(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-630B-2B, IN

Coin Details

Description

Fuld 630B-2B — store card of B. Holcomb, Mishawaka, Indiana. Indiana was an important agricultural and manufacturing state, with merchants producing store cards as emergency currency when federal coinage was hoarded. With 4 known varieties, B. Holcomb produced a modest number of token types. This brass striking (Fuld 630B-2B) is common to somewhat scarce among the known varieties. Undated Civil War tokens like this one circulated alongside dated issues during the 1862-1864 period. 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. Brass tokens are moderately available, with their yellowish color distinguishing them from the standard copper issues.

Rarity Notes

Brass strikings are among the more available metal variants, though typically less common than copper. With 4 cataloged varieties, B. Holcomb was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 630B-2B