(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-700E-1g, RH

Coin Details

Description

Civil War store card from the Fuld 700E-1g series, attributed to the unidentified issuer "RH." Assigned to the Fuld 700 "RH" series, a large group of Civil War store cards whose issuer remains unidentified. The scope of the series — spanning many die pairings and metal variants — points to a professional token manufacturer rather than an individual retail merchant. Struck in gold, the rarest and most valuable composition for Civil War tokens. Gold strikes were presentation pieces of the highest order, produced in minute quantities. This undated piece was produced circa 1862-1864 during the wartime coin shortage. Die sinkers in major cities competed fiercely for merchant orders, offering stock reverses that could be paired with custom obverse dies featuring the merchant's name and business information. New York City produced over half of all Civil War tokens, with additional output from Waterbury, Connecticut (center of the brass industry) and Cincinnati, Ohio.

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. With 21 cataloged varieties, Frank L. Gay was a moderately active token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 700E-1g