(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-5B-4A, MI

Coin Details

Description

Civil War merchant token bearing the name of Buck & Farrar, located in Adrian, Michigan. Michigan's merchants across numerous cities actively produced tokens to combat the small change shortage affecting Northern commerce. With 4 known varieties, Buck & Farrar produced a modest number of token types. This copper striking (Fuld 5B-4A) is common among the known varieties. Most Civil War store cards carry no date; this token was struck during the 1862-1864 coin shortage era. Many Civil War tokens share common reverse dies, as die sinkers paired merchant-specific obverses with stock patriotic or advertising reverses. Civil War tokens addressed a practical problem: the wartime disappearance of federal small change made daily transactions nearly impossible without private substitutes. Many Civil War tokens survive in high grades because merchants and the public saved them as novelties, resulting in a better average preservation than contemporary federal coins.

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 4 cataloged varieties, Buck & Farrar was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 5B-4A