(No Date) Copper Civil War Store Card F-480F-2a, Palmer & Goodsall MI

Coin Details

Description

This Civil War token was issued by Palmer & Goodsall, operating in Hudson, Michigan. Michigan was a significant industrial state during the Civil War, with Detroit emerging as a major manufacturing center and merchants across the state producing tokens. With 2 known varieties, Palmer & Goodsall produced a modest number of token types. The copper composition of this variety (Fuld 480F-2a) is common for this merchant. Like the majority of Civil War store cards, this token is undated, produced during the acute 1862-1864 small change crisis. Token manufacturers struck pieces by the thousands, using hand-fed screw presses capable of producing several hundred tokens per hour. Between 1862 and 1864, Northern merchants produced millions of private tokens to compensate for the disappearance of federal coinage. Token production peaked in 1863 when the coin shortage was most acute, with die sinkers working around the clock to fill merchant orders.

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, Palmer & Goodsall was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 480F-2a