(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-765A-1b, PA

Coin Details

Description

Civil War store card from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, cataloged as Fuld 765A-1b. Pennsylvania was the Union's industrial heartland, with Philadelphia as a manufacturing center and Pittsburgh as an iron and steel producer. The brass composition of this variety (Fuld 765A-1b) is common to somewhat scarce for this merchant. This undated piece entered commerce during the 1862-1864 period when millions of private tokens replaced vanished federal coinage. Professional die sinkers like John Stanton, Benjamin True, and William Bridgens supplied dies to merchants across the Northern states. The Civil War small change crisis generated the largest private coinage movement in American history, with merchants and die sinkers producing tokens for circulation. The brass composition gives this token a warm golden tone that contrasts with the reddish-brown of copper strikings.

Rarity Notes

Brass strikings are among the more available metal variants, though typically less common than copper. With 9 cataloged varieties, this merchant was a minor token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 765A-1b