(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-600C-1a, TN

Coin Details

Description

Civil War store card from Memphis, Tennessee, cataloged as Fuld 600C-1a. Tennessee was divided during the Civil War. Nashville fell to Union forces in 1862, and merchants in Union-controlled areas issued tokens as emergency small change. This copper striking (Fuld 600C-1a) is common among the known varieties. 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. Merchant-issued tokens circulated as substitutes for scarce federal coinage throughout the Northern states between 1862 and 1864. After Congress banned private coinage in 1864, surviving tokens became instant collectibles, with serious collecting beginning within a decade of the war's end.

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 2 cataloged varieties, this merchant was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 600C-1a