(No Date) Civil War Store Card F-960E-1a, WI

Coin Details

Description

Civil War store card from Whitewater, Wisconsin, cataloged as Fuld 960E-1a. Wisconsin was a growing frontier state with Milwaukee as its largest commercial center, and its merchants issued tokens as practical solutions to the coin shortage. The copper composition of this variety (Fuld 960E-1a) is common for this merchant. Although undated, this token was produced during the 1862-1864 period when federal coins disappeared from commerce. Die sinkers offered merchants a choice of metals, with copper being cheapest and most common, while silver and gold were struck for collectors. Civil War tokens addressed a practical problem: the wartime disappearance of federal small change made daily transactions nearly impossible without private substitutes. 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

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, this merchant was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 960E-1a