(No Date) Copper Civil War Store Card F-630AS-1a, C. Magnus NY

Coin Details

Description

Civil War merchant token bearing the name of C. Magnus in New York. New York was the nation's commercial capital, with New York City alone producing hundreds of store card varieties from Broadway retailers to waterfront wholesalers. The copper composition of this variety (Fuld 630AS-1a) 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. The token era ended when Congress authorized new federal small-denomination currency and criminalized private token production in 1864. 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 3 cataloged varieties, C. Magnus was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 630AS-1a