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

Coin Details

Auction Record

$204 MS63 11-18-2020 Stack's Bowers

Description

Civil War store card from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, cataloged as Fuld 765O-2b. 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 765O-2b) is common to somewhat scarce for this merchant. The absence of a date on this token is standard for the 1862-1864 era, when speed of production mattered more than formality. Die sinkers offered merchants a choice of metals, with copper being cheapest and most common, while silver and gold were struck for collectors. The token era ended when Congress authorized new federal small-denomination currency and criminalized private token production in 1864. Brass planchets were readily available to die sinkers, making this a relatively accessible metal variant for collectors. Many Civil War tokens survive in high grades because merchants and the public saved them as novelties, resulting in a better average preservation than contemporary federal coins.

Rarity Notes

Brass strikings are among the more available metal variants, though typically less common than copper. With 8 cataloged varieties, this merchant was a minor token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 765O-2b