(No Date) Copper Civil War Store Card F-630P-2a, Carland's NY

Coin Details

Auction Record

$75 MS63BN 10-14-2020 Stack's Bowers

Description

Civil War merchant token bearing the name of Carland's 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. Struck in copper, this die combination (Fuld 630P-2a) is common. No date appears on this token, consistent with the rapid production practices of the 1862-1864 Civil War token boom. 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. After Congress banned private coinage in 1864, surviving tokens became instant collectibles, with serious collecting beginning within a decade of the war's end.

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, Carland's was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 630P-2a