(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-500U-1A, IN

Coin Details

Description

D.S. Welch of Kendallville issued this token as emergency currency during the Civil War coin shortage. Indiana was an important agricultural and manufacturing state, with merchants producing store cards as emergency currency when federal coinage was hoarded. D.S. Welch issued 6 die varieties, more than most Civil War merchants. This copper striking (Fuld 500U-1A) is common among the known varieties. Undated Civil War tokens like this one circulated alongside dated issues during the 1862-1864 period. Token manufacturers struck pieces by the thousands, using hand-fed screw presses capable of producing several hundred tokens per hour. The token era ended when Congress authorized new federal small-denomination currency and criminalized private token production in 1864. Over 25 million Civil War tokens were produced before Congress ended private coinage in April 1864, making them the largest private coinage movement in American history.

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, D.S. Welch was a minor token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 500U-1A