(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-510O-1a, WI

Coin Details

Description

Civil War merchant token bearing the name of C.E. Graff, located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Milwaukee was Wisconsin's largest city and a major brewing and manufacturing center, with its large German immigrant population strongly supporting the Union cause. The 15 cataloged varieties for C.E. Graff indicate a notable level of token production. Struck in copper, this die combination (Fuld 510O-1a) is common. 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. Civil War tokens addressed a practical problem: the wartime disappearance of federal small change made daily transactions nearly impossible without private substitutes. Many Civil War tokens survive in high grades because merchants and the public saved them as novelties, resulting in a better average preservation than contemporary federal coins.

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 15 cataloged varieties, C.E. Graff was a notable token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 510O-1a