(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-530B-3A, IN

Coin Details

Description

Merchant token from J. Faller & Son of Laporte, Indiana, cataloged as Fuld 530B-3A. Indiana was an important agricultural and manufacturing state, with merchants producing store cards as emergency currency when federal coinage was hoarded. J. Faller & Son issued 5 die varieties, more than most Civil War merchants. Struck in copper, this die combination (Fuld 530B-3A) is common. No date appears on this token, consistent with the rapid production practices of the 1862-1864 Civil War token boom. 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. The Fuld catalog documents thousands of distinct die combinations for Civil War store cards, making this one of the most complex series in American numismatics.

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 5 cataloged varieties, J. Faller & Son was a minor token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 530B-3A