(No Date) Copper Civil War Store Card F-480A-2a, Baker & Brown MI

Coin Details

Description

Baker & Brown, a Hudson merchant, issued this Civil War store card during the 1862-1864 coin shortage. Michigan's merchants across numerous cities actively produced tokens to combat the small change shortage affecting Northern commerce. The copper composition of this variety (Fuld 480A-2a) is common for this merchant. The absence of a date is typical for Civil War tokens produced during the 1862-1864 emergency currency period. Many Civil War tokens share common reverse dies, as die sinkers paired merchant-specific obverses with stock patriotic or advertising reverses. Store cards circulated as emergency currency after wartime hoarding removed federal coins from commercial channels. Civil War store cards are collected both as numismatic items and as historical documents of wartime American commerce.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 1 cataloged varieties, Baker & Brown was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 480A-2a