(No Date) Copper Civil War Store Card F-750N-1a, A. Lambert PA

Coin Details

Description

A. Lambert of Pennsylvania produced this token as a cent substitute during the wartime coin shortage. Pennsylvania was the Union's industrial heartland, with Philadelphia as a manufacturing center and Pittsburgh as an iron and steel producer. Struck in copper, this die combination (Fuld 750N-1a) is common. The absence of a date on this token is standard for the 1862-1864 era, when speed of production mattered more than formality. Die sinkers offered merchants a choice of metals, with copper being cheapest and most common, while silver and gold were struck for collectors. Civil War tokens addressed a practical problem: the wartime disappearance of federal small change made daily transactions nearly impossible without private substitutes. The Fuld catalog documents thousands of distinct die combinations for Civil War store cards, making this one of the most complex series in American numismatics.

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, A. Lambert was a limited producer of Civil War tokens.

Cross References

Fuld 750N-1a