(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-555C-1C, NJ

Coin Details

Description

Civil War store card from Newark, New Jersey, cataloged as Fuld 555C-1C. New Jersey was a vital industrial and transportation state, with Newark, Trenton, and Paterson as major manufacturing centers where merchants issued Civil War tokens. This nickel striking (Fuld 555C-1C) is scarce among the known varieties. 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. The token era ended when Congress authorized new federal small-denomination currency and criminalized private token production in 1864. Nickel tokens were produced in smaller quantities than the standard copper issues. Over 25 million Civil War tokens were produced before Congress ended private coinage in April 1864, making them the largest private coinage movement in American history.

Rarity Notes

Nickel strikings are generally scarcer than copper or brass versions, as nickel was more expensive and harder to strike. With 38 cataloged varieties, this merchant was a moderately active token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 555C-1C