(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-530A-1B, OH

Coin Details

Description

This Civil War token was issued by A.&W. H. Barnes in Ohio. The breadth of Ohio's Civil War token production reflects the state's diverse economy, from Cincinnati's river trade to Cleveland's Lake Erie shipping to interior manufacturing towns. With 3 known varieties, A.&W. H. Barnes produced a modest number of token types. Struck in brass, this die combination (Fuld 530A-1B) is common to somewhat scarce. Like the majority of Civil War store cards, this token is undated, produced during the acute 1862-1864 small change crisis. 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. Brass tokens are moderately available, with their yellowish color distinguishing them from the standard copper issues.

Rarity Notes

Brass strikings are among the more available metal variants, though typically less common than copper. With 3 cataloged varieties, A.&W. H. Barnes was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 530A-1B