(No Date) Copper Civil War Store Card F-350E-2a, Joseph Lauferty IN

Coin Details

Auction Record

$381 MS63BN 09-25-2023 eBay

Description

Civil War-era store card from Joseph Lauferty, a Goshen, Indiana business. Hoosier merchants in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and smaller towns issued Civil War tokens reflecting Indiana's diverse commercial landscape. With 2 known varieties, Joseph Lauferty produced a modest number of token types. Struck in copper, this die combination (Fuld 350E-2a) is common. This undated token was struck circa 1862-1864 during the wartime coin shortage. Token production was a specialized trade — die sinkers maintained catalogs of stock dies that merchants could pair with custom obverses. Congress banned private token issuance in April 1864, but before that, tokens like this one circulated freely as cent substitutes in Northern commerce. 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, Joseph Lauferty was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 350E-2a