(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-500U-2A, IN

Coin Details

Description

Civil War-era store card from D.S. Welch, a Kendallville, Indiana business. 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-2A) is common among the known varieties. Undated Civil War tokens like this one circulated alongside dated issues during the 1862-1864 period. 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 6 cataloged varieties, D.S. Welch was a minor token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 500U-2A