(No Date) Copper Civil War Store Card F-175S-8a, Geo. Worthington & Co. OH

Coin Details

Auction Record

$63 AU53 11-29-2016 Heritage Auctions

Description

Fuld 175S-8a — store card of Geo. Worthington & Co., Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland's position on Lake Erie made it a vital shipping hub for wartime goods, and its merchants participated actively in the Civil War token phenomenon. The 17 cataloged varieties for Geo. Worthington & Co. indicate a notable level of token production. This copper striking (Fuld 175S-8a) is common among the known varieties. This undated piece entered commerce during the 1862-1864 period when millions of private tokens replaced vanished federal coinage. Professional die sinkers like John Stanton, Benjamin True, and William Bridgens supplied dies to merchants across the Northern states. 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 17 cataloged varieties, Geo. Worthington & Co. was a notable token issuer.

Cross References

Fuld 175S-8a