(No Date) Copper Civil War Store Card F-510N-1a, Goll & Frank's WI

Coin Details

Description

Merchant token from Goll & Frank's of Wisconsin, cataloged as Fuld 510N-1a. Wisconsin was a growing frontier state with Milwaukee as its largest commercial center, and its merchants issued tokens as practical solutions to the coin shortage. The copper composition of this variety (Fuld 510N-1a) is common for this merchant. No date appears on this token, consistent with the rapid production practices of the 1862-1864 Civil War token boom. Each unique combination of obverse and reverse dies constitutes a separate Fuld catalog number, even when struck in the same metal. 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 1 cataloged varieties, Goll & Frank's was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 510N-1a