(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-74A-13A, OH

Coin Details

Description

Merchant token from D.E. Stearns of Berea, Ohio, cataloged as Fuld 74A-13A. The breadth of Ohio's Civil War token production reflects the state's diverse economy, from Cincinnati's river trade to Cleveland's Lake Erie shipping to interior manufacturing towns. D.E. Stearns produced 24 cataloged die varieties, reflecting a substantial token operation. The copper composition of this variety (Fuld 74A-13A) is common for this merchant. Although undated, this token was produced during the 1862-1864 period when federal coins disappeared from commerce. Token production was a specialized trade — die sinkers maintained catalogs of stock dies that merchants could pair with custom obverses. Congress banned private token issuance in April 1864, but before that, tokens like this one circulated freely as cent substitutes in Northern commerce. After Congress banned private coinage in 1864, surviving tokens became instant collectibles, with serious collecting beginning within a decade of the war's end.

Rarity Notes

Copper strikings are generally the most common metal variant for Civil War store cards, as copper was the standard planchet material mimicking the federal cent. With 24 cataloged varieties, D.E. Stearns was a moderately active token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 74A-13A