(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-480D-2A, MI

Coin Details

Description

This Civil War token was issued by Green & Wardsworth, operating in Hudson, Michigan. Michigan's merchants across numerous cities actively produced tokens to combat the small change shortage affecting Northern commerce. With 2 known varieties, Green & Wardsworth produced a modest number of token types. The copper composition of this variety (Fuld 480D-2A) is common for this merchant. This undated piece entered commerce during the 1862-1864 period when millions of private tokens replaced vanished federal coinage. Professional die sinkers like John Stanton, Benjamin True, and William Bridgens supplied dies to merchants across the Northern states. Merchant-issued tokens circulated as substitutes for scarce federal coinage throughout the Northern states between 1862 and 1864. 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 2 cataloged varieties, Green & Wardsworth was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 480D-2A