(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-510V-2a, WI

Coin Details

Description

Civil War store card from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, cataloged as Fuld 510V-2a. 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 510V-2a) is common for this merchant. This undated token was struck circa 1862-1864 during the wartime coin shortage. Token production was a specialized trade — die sinkers maintained catalogs of stock dies that merchants could pair with custom obverses. Federal coinage vanished from circulation after 1861 as citizens hoarded silver and copper for their metal value, leaving merchants to fill the void with tokens. Some token dies were used so extensively that late strikes show significant die wear, providing collectors with a chronological sequence of the production run from fresh to deteriorated states. Token production peaked in 1863 when the coin shortage was most acute, with die sinkers working around the clock to fill merchant orders.

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 4 cataloged varieties, this merchant was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 510V-2a