(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-555A-7A, NJ

Coin Details

Description

Store card of J.L. Agens & Co in Newark, New Jersey, struck during the 1862-1864 token era. New Jersey was a vital industrial and transportation state, with Newark, Trenton, and Paterson as major manufacturing centers where merchants issued Civil War tokens. The 18 cataloged varieties for J.L. Agens & Co indicate a notable level of token production. Struck in copper, this die combination (Fuld 555A-7A) is common. Civil War tokens rarely bear dates. This piece was struck during the 1862-1864 coin shortage, when merchants needed emergency small change. 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.

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 18 cataloged varieties, J.L. Agens & Co was a notable token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 555A-7A