(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-395A-3A, IN

Coin Details

Description

Civil War store card issued by Jas. Lyon of Hartford, Indiana. Indiana was an important agricultural and manufacturing state, with merchants producing store cards as emergency currency when federal coinage was hoarded. Jas. Lyon issued 6 die varieties, more than most Civil War merchants. This copper striking (Fuld 395A-3A) is common among the known varieties. Like the majority of Civil War store cards, this token is undated, produced during the acute 1862-1864 small change crisis. Token manufacturers struck pieces by the thousands, using hand-fed screw presses capable of producing several hundred tokens per hour. Private tokens entered circulation after the suspension of specie payments in late 1861 drained small change from commerce. After Congress banned private coinage in 1864, surviving tokens became instant collectibles, with serious collecting beginning within a decade of the war's end.

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 6 cataloged varieties, Jas. Lyon was a minor token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 395A-3A