(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-735A-1B, MI

Coin Details

Description

Civil War store card from Michigan, cataloged as Fuld 735A-1B. Michigan's merchants across numerous cities actively produced tokens to combat the small change shortage affecting Northern commerce. Struck in brass, this die combination (Fuld 735A-1B) is common to somewhat scarce. The absence of a date is typical for Civil War tokens produced during the 1862-1864 emergency currency period. Many Civil War tokens share common reverse dies, as die sinkers paired merchant-specific obverses with stock patriotic or advertising reverses. Store cards circulated as emergency currency after wartime hoarding removed federal coins from commercial channels. Brass was the second most common planchet material after copper, giving tokens a golden appearance. Token production peaked in 1863 when the coin shortage was most acute, with die sinkers working around the clock to fill merchant orders.

Rarity Notes

Brass strikings are among the more available metal variants, though typically less common than copper. With 2 cataloged varieties, this merchant was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 735A-1B