(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-35A-1B, CT

Coin Details

Description

Store card of E.W. Atwood in Bridgeport, Connecticut, struck during the 1862-1864 token era. Connecticut was a major arms manufacturing center, with Colt in Hartford and Winchester in New Haven. Its merchants issued tokens alongside the munitions output. With 4 known varieties, E.W. Atwood produced a modest number of token types. The brass composition of this variety (Fuld 35A-1B) is common to somewhat scarce for this merchant. This undated token was struck circa 1862-1864 during the wartime coin shortage. Many Civil War tokens share common reverse dies, as die sinkers paired merchant-specific obverses with stock patriotic or advertising reverses. Civil War tokens addressed a practical problem: the wartime disappearance of federal small change made daily transactions nearly impossible without private substitutes. Brass strikings are among the more available variants, though less common than copper.

Rarity Notes

Brass strikings are among the more available metal variants, though typically less common than copper. With 4 cataloged varieties, E.W. Atwood was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 35A-1B