(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-950B-1A, IN

Coin Details

Description

John Lane of Indiana issued this Civil War store card during the 1862-1864 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, John Lane produced a modest number of token types. This copper striking (Fuld 950B-1A) is common among the known varieties. The absence of a date on this token is standard for the 1862-1864 era, when speed of production mattered more than formality. Token production was a specialized trade — die sinkers maintained catalogs of stock dies that merchants could pair with custom obverses. Federal coinage vanished from circulation after 1861 as citizens hoarded silver and copper for their metal value, leaving merchants to fill the void with tokens. The Fuld catalog documents thousands of distinct die combinations for Civil War store cards, making this one of the most complex series in American numismatics.

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, John Lane was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 950B-1A