(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-350G-1A, IN

Coin Details

Description

Civil War store card from Goshen, Indiana, cataloged as Fuld 350G-1A. Indiana was an important agricultural and manufacturing state, with merchants producing store cards as emergency currency when federal coinage was hoarded. The copper composition of this variety (Fuld 350G-1A) is common for this merchant. This undated token was struck circa 1862-1864 during the wartime coin shortage. Die sinkers produced these tokens on hand-operated screw presses, often filling orders for multiple merchants simultaneously. Merchant-issued tokens circulated as substitutes for scarce federal coinage throughout the Northern states between 1862 and 1864. Merchants in border states faced particular challenges during the coin shortage, as economic uncertainty and military activity disrupted normal commercial patterns more severely than in the interior. Civil War store cards are collected both as numismatic items and as historical documents of wartime American commerce.

Rarity Notes

Copper strikings are generally the most common metal variant for Civil War store cards, as copper was the standard planchet material mimicking the federal cent. With 1 cataloged varieties, this merchant was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 350G-1A