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My next blog has been known to cause controversy in other venues, i.e. NGC blogs. Not only controversy but some people get downright angry. Let’s see how it goes here. Below you will see my example of a Dan Carr Token. This particular specimen is a 1917 Peace Dollar with the original design from artist/sculptor Anthony De Francisci. It is in the original high relief as well as the “broken sword” reverse. There are a couple of facts that I need to discuss now.
Today I received in the mail a great surprise from a friend I hold dear. He has taught me just about all I know on this subject. I opened my package and inside was a beautiful silver token. It was minted in England in 1812.
Thanks to a blog written by an ANA member on 10 March, 2018 I was inspired to look for a token from my hometown. Low and behold, I found one while searching a Civil War Token Society seller. It was priced very reasonably, so I closed the deal. Had to wait a while as he was out of town but got it in the mail within a day or two of his return. I happen to be from what used to be a small, sleepy college town in the northern part of CA., Palo Alto. The college is Stanford University and it is anything but small now. Somehow Silicon Valley has swallowed it up. I couldn't afford to live there if I wanted to. Anyway, we are talking about the 50's and 60's in my case. It was a nice time to grow up if you didn't count the Russian ICBM and nuclear bomb drills. Who would have thought that ducking under your desk while indoors or dropping down alongside a street curb would protect you from the blast and radiation? That's what we were taught! It doesn't sound like they were such a big deal back then. So when my friend Greg and I were not "duck and covering", we often went to the movies. My mom was kind enough to buy us both summer passes for all the kid movies that were shown. I'm sure getting us gone for a few hours had nothing to do with it. The theater we went to was called The Varsity. My mom would generally drive us there and we would spend the day watching everything on the screen. It didn't matter if they showed the same movie a couple of times. In those days there was generally two features shown. So we would sit there and get wired on Pixie Sticks, look it up, and all kinds of candy. We were given a small stipend to stay away. After the shows were over and the Varsity closed we would just walk home. You could do that back then.
For your enjoyment today I would like to share a resent auction win. A 1863 Civil War Token. This particular token is called an "Indian-Crossed Cannons". It's die pair numbers are F-82/351 a. These numbers are a way of looking up all the Civil War Tokens and Store Cards. They are like Breen numbers on regular coinage. The first number refers to Patriotic die #82. As you can see in the photos, I hope, it is the date 1863 along the bottom, and an Indian Head facing left. It also has 13 stars around the boarder as well as 13 stars in the headband. The die is thought to have been made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company. This die can be combined with dies 351 or 3352A. The second die number is 351. This particular Patriotic die depicts an open wreath enclosing crossed cannons, drum and Liberty cap. This die is also thought to be made by Scovill. It is also the obverse on this token. It can be used with reverse dies 12, 79, 80, 81 and 82. The token has a Rarity number of 1 and 2. Basically it's very common. The "a" refers to the metal used. In this case copper or bronze. All these tokens and store cards were made and used during the Civil War due to people hoarding any government issued coins for their metal content. They were used the same as money. I hope you enjoyed this blog and that I got my facts correct. I'm a novice at collecting these. Please feel free to comment. Thanks for your time.
Today I have a new token acquisition. As you can see below, it is a 1795 Great Britain Halfpenny. I like to collect tokens and coins with bee hives or Druids on them. This token has both. Nice find if I do say so myself. I’m very new to tokens so all mistakes are mine. The Obverse,?, shows a druid head facing right. Around the edge is written CURRENT IN THE COUNTIES OF. It has the date, 1795, below the Druid. The reverse has a old world style beehive in the center with bees flying around it. The hive is sitting on a stand on some grass. Around the edge is written INDUSTRY HAS IT’S SURE REWARD. There is what looks like a flower in the center edge. Around the outside rim is inscribed: CAMBRIDGE BEDFORD . AND HUNTINGDON . X . X
Today I would like to share with everyone my newest pursuit in numismatics. I have been inspired by our resident token expert Mike Burns. Now I am a huge Newbie on this. Any and all mistakes are my own. What I have pictured below is a 18th century British token. This particular one is dated 1792. It is for Donald & Co.. The obverse reads Donald & Co, STOCKING MANUFACTURERS, WHOLESALE &, RETAIL. All around that is an oval circling of bees. Outside of that it reads PROMISARLY HALFPENNY, PAYABLE AT NOTTINGmOR. The “m” is in a smaller size text and above the line of other letters. I believe that was meant to mean NOTTINGHAM. Just a guess. The reverse shows an old world style beehive on astand with grassy plants underneath it. A small swarm of bees are flying around the hive. There is another ring of bees around that. Below that is the date, 1792, No 29, BULL STREET, BIRMINGHAM. There is a very interesting die break that runs through the letters BIRMING. Through the letters B and I and into the ring of bees is a big glop of metal. To me, this indicates a late stage die break. Soon before the die blew apart. Another guess.