(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-830A-4A, OH

Coin Details

Description

Fuld 830A-4A — store card of W.G. Brain, Springfld, Ohio. The breadth of Ohio's Civil War token production reflects the state's diverse economy, from Cincinnati's river trade to Cleveland's Lake Erie shipping to interior manufacturing towns. The 14 cataloged varieties for W.G. Brain indicate a notable level of token production. Struck in copper, this die combination (Fuld 830A-4A) is common. 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. Surviving specimens are tangible artifacts of the wartime monetary crisis that affected every commercial transaction in the Northern states.

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 14 cataloged varieties, W.G. Brain was a notable token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 830A-4A