(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-665B-1B, NY

Coin Details

Description

Civil War store card from New York, cataloged as Fuld 665B-1B. 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 brass striking (Fuld 665B-1B) is common to somewhat scarce among the known varieties. Like the majority of Civil War store cards, this token is undated, produced during the acute 1862-1864 small change crisis. Token manufacturers struck pieces by the thousands, using hand-fed screw presses capable of producing several hundred tokens per hour. Between 1862 and 1864, Northern merchants produced millions of private tokens to compensate for the disappearance of federal coinage. Brass tokens are moderately available, with their yellowish color distinguishing them from the standard copper issues. The cent-sized format was chosen deliberately to match the federal Indian Head cent, the coin most conspicuously absent from daily commerce.

Rarity Notes

Brass strikings are among the more available metal variants, though typically less common than copper. With 7 cataloged varieties, this merchant was a minor token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 665B-1B