(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-580A-2A, IN

Coin Details

Description

Merchant token from Elliott & Hinshaw of Lynn, Indiana, cataloged as Fuld 580A-2A. Indiana was an important agricultural and manufacturing state, with merchants producing store cards as emergency currency when federal coinage was hoarded. Elliott & Hinshaw issued 7 die varieties, more than most Civil War merchants. The copper composition of this variety (Fuld 580A-2A) is common for this merchant. No date appears on this token, consistent with the rapid production practices of the 1862-1864 Civil War token boom. Die sinkers offered merchants a choice of metals, with copper being cheapest and most common, while silver and gold were struck for collectors. Civil War tokens addressed a practical problem: the wartime disappearance of federal small change made daily transactions nearly impossible without private substitutes. Surviving specimens are tangible artifacts of the wartime monetary crisis that affected every commercial transaction in the Northern states.

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 7 cataloged varieties, Elliott & Hinshaw was a minor token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 580A-2A