(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-630M-12DOL, NY

Coin Details

Description

Civil War store card from New York, cataloged as Fuld 630M-12DOL. New York state generated the second-largest body of Civil War token issues, concentrated in New York City but extending to Albany, Troy, Buffalo, and smaller commercial centers. This piece is an overstrike struck over a host coin, an 1863 Indian Head cent. Traces of the original design may be visible beneath the new impressions. Undated Civil War tokens like this one circulated alongside dated issues during the 1862-1864 period. The token trade was competitive, with die sinkers in New York, Cincinnati, and other cities vying for merchant orders across the region. Between 1862 and 1864, Northern merchants produced millions of private tokens to compensate for the disappearance of federal coinage. George and Melvin Fuld's catalog remains the standard reference for Civil War tokens, with each variety assigned a unique identification number.

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. Overstrike varieties are generally scarcer than tokens struck on blank planchets, as they required sourcing and re-striking existing coins. With 40 cataloged varieties, this merchant was a substantial producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 630M-12DOL