(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-700E-3g, WI

Coin Details

Description

Fuld 700E-3g — store card of J.W. English, Racine, Wisconsin. Wisconsin was a growing frontier state with Milwaukee as its largest commercial center, and its merchants issued tokens as practical solutions to the coin shortage. With 4 known varieties, J.W. English produced a modest number of token types. This gold striking (Fuld 700E-3g) is extremely rare among the known varieties. Although undated, this token was produced during the 1862-1864 period when federal coins disappeared from commerce. Many Civil War tokens share common reverse dies, as die sinkers paired merchant-specific obverses with stock patriotic or advertising reverses. Congress banned private token issuance in April 1864, but before that, tokens like this one circulated freely as cent substitutes in Northern commerce. 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. With 4 cataloged varieties, J.W. English was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 700E-3g