(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-770D-1D, IN

Coin Details

Description

Fuld 770D-1D — store card of Tansey & Ballard, Plainfield, Indiana. Hoosier merchants in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and smaller towns issued Civil War tokens reflecting Indiana's diverse commercial landscape. Tansey & Ballard issued 7 die varieties, more than most Civil War merchants. Struck in copper-nickel, this die combination (Fuld 770D-1D) is somewhat scarce. Civil War tokens rarely bear dates. This piece was struck during the 1862-1864 coin shortage, when merchants needed emergency small change. Token manufacturers struck pieces by the thousands, using hand-fed screw presses capable of producing several hundred tokens per hour. Civil War tokens addressed a practical problem: the wartime disappearance of federal small change made daily transactions nearly impossible without private substitutes. The copper-nickel composition gave these tokens the closest resemblance to federal coinage of any metal variant.

Rarity Notes

Copper-nickel strikings are moderately scarce compared to pure copper or brass versions. With 7 cataloged varieties, Tansey & Ballard was a minor token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 770D-1D