(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-510AJ-3a, WI

Coin Details

Description

Civil War-era store card from Severn & Jones, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin business. Milwaukee's thriving German-American merchant community made it the center of Wisconsin's Civil War token production. With 3 known varieties, Severn & Jones produced a modest number of token types. This copper striking (Fuld 510AJ-3a) is common among the known varieties. Although undated, this token was produced during the 1862-1864 period when federal coins disappeared from commerce. Token production was a specialized trade — die sinkers maintained catalogs of stock dies that merchants could pair with custom obverses. Congress banned private token issuance in April 1864, but before that, tokens like this one circulated freely as cent substitutes in Northern 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 3 cataloged varieties, Severn & Jones was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 510AJ-3a