(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-630M-6GO, NY

Coin Details

Description

Civil War store card from New York, cataloged as Fuld 630M-6GO. New York was the nation's commercial capital, with New York City alone producing hundreds of store card varieties from Broadway retailers to waterfront wholesalers. 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. Like the majority of Civil War store cards, this token is undated, produced during the acute 1862-1864 small change crisis. Professional die sinkers like John Stanton, Benjamin True, and William Bridgens supplied dies to merchants across the Northern states. The hoarding of federal coinage created an acute shortage of small change, prompting thousands of merchants to issue tokens as practical substitutes. Gold strikings are among the rarest metal variants, produced in tiny quantities for presentation purposes.

Rarity Notes

Gold strikings of Civil War tokens are among the rarest of all metal variants, produced in tiny quantities for presentation purposes or the collector market. 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-6GO