(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-765K-2b, PA

Coin Details

Description

Civil War-era store card from J.W. McCarthy, a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania business. Pennsylvania was the Union's industrial heartland, with Philadelphia as a manufacturing center and Pittsburgh as an iron and steel producer. With 4 known varieties, J.W. McCarthy produced a modest number of token types. The brass composition of this variety (Fuld 765K-2b) is common to somewhat scarce for this merchant. This undated token was struck circa 1862-1864 during the wartime coin shortage. 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. Brass strikings are among the more available variants, though less common than copper.

Rarity Notes

Brass strikings are among the more available metal variants, though typically less common than copper. With 4 cataloged varieties, J.W. McCarthy was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 765K-2b