(No Date) Copper Civil War Store Card F-155A-1a, J . Lutes IN

Coin Details

Auction Record

$850 NGC Genuine 12-01-2020 eBay

Description

J . Lutes 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, J . Lutes produced a modest number of token types. The copper composition of this variety (Fuld 155A-1a) is common for this merchant. Although undated, this token was produced during the 1862-1864 period when federal coins disappeared from commerce. Many Civil War tokens share common reverse dies, as die sinkers paired merchant-specific obverses with stock patriotic or advertising reverses. Congress banned private token issuance in April 1864, but before that, tokens like this one circulated freely as cent substitutes in Northern commerce. 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 2 cataloged varieties, J . Lutes was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 155A-1a