(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-800A-1A, IN

Coin Details

Description

C.C. Buhl, based in Richmond, Indiana, produced this token as a cent substitute during the wartime coin shortage. Indiana was an important agricultural and manufacturing state, with merchants producing store cards as emergency currency when federal coinage was hoarded. With 2 known varieties, C.C. Buhl produced a modest number of token types. The copper composition of this variety (Fuld 800A-1A) is common for this merchant. Most Civil War store cards carry no date; this token was struck during the 1862-1864 coin shortage era. The token trade was competitive, with die sinkers in New York, Cincinnati, and other cities vying for merchant orders across the region. 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 cent-sized format was chosen deliberately to match the federal Indian Head cent, the coin most conspicuously absent from daily commerce.

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 2 cataloged varieties, C.C. Buhl was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 800A-1A