(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-450B-1A, MI

Coin Details

Auction Record

$180 MS64BN 10-14-2020 Stack's Bowers

Description

Civil War merchant token bearing the name of O.S. Betts, located in Hillsdale, Michigan. Michigan's merchants across numerous cities actively produced tokens to combat the small change shortage affecting Northern commerce. With 2 known varieties, O.S. Betts produced a modest number of token types. Struck in copper, this die combination (Fuld 450B-1A) is common. The absence of a date on this token is standard for the 1862-1864 era, when speed of production mattered more than formality. The dies for merchant tokens were usually cut by professional engravers who could produce a complete set in a matter of days. Civil War tokens addressed a practical problem: the wartime disappearance of federal small change made daily transactions nearly impossible without private substitutes. The cent-sized format was chosen deliberately to match the federal Indian Head cent, the coin most conspicuously absent from daily 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 2 cataloged varieties, O.S. Betts was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 450B-1A