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

Coin Details

Description

Civil War store card from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, cataloged as Fuld 510T-1a. Milwaukee's thriving German-American merchant community made it the center of Wisconsin's Civil War token production. The copper composition of this variety (Fuld 510T-1a) is common for this merchant. The absence of a date on this token is standard for the 1862-1864 era, when speed of production mattered more than formality. Each unique combination of obverse and reverse dies constitutes a separate Fuld catalog number, even when struck in the same metal. The token era ended when Congress authorized new federal small-denomination currency and criminalized private token production in 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 1 cataloged varieties, this merchant was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 510T-1a