Question About Unusual Coinage Materials/Post Your Unusual Materials Coins!

Nice example!

Interesting examples!

Nice examples!

Got another one today that I really wanted.



This is a 100 mon wood coin used in Shimada, Japan in 1870. It was akin to one of those oval brass coins. It's been suggested they were made of wood as a way of forcing it to remain in the local area, and because the area was a hub for timber. As best as I can tell, this may actually be the world's first wooden coin.

Then I went back and got a few more...




This is a medal made from copper from Horatio Nelson's ship, the Foudroyant. This sort of thing was fairly common for tokens and medals.




This one was made with a bit of the Merrimac. Not mine.




Wooden medal from 1885 Cotton Exposition. This is much more obscure than say the 1876 centennial wooden medals, but is listed by Rulau.




Brazil issued a series of wooden pattern coins in 1886. Not mine.




Beer coaster that was apparently also a good-for token. And no, it's not the only one of its kind.



And while I'm at it, I may as well note this one. There are a number of niobium coins out there now, but Sierra Leone is the only one to issue a bimetallic gold-niobium coin.

Got some more sulfur medals recently.












They've been lacquered or similar so they're not quite as nice as the other one I got.





These are tokens used at the Japanese internment camp in Crystal City, Texas. While they're better known for their connections to history, they were made of fiber because metal was being conserved for the way. The highest denomination of this group of tokens is $5, a green fiber token which is quite valuable.




Richardson's Battery is a quack medicine piece much in the vein of Boyd's Battery, though a fair bit scarcer. Also like Boyd's Battery, it is considered a token. There are a couple of different types of it.




The first Encased Cents were made for the Pan American Expo in 1901. Interestingly, it was the first and also the last time that vulcanite was used as an encasing material. There are a number of color and picture combinations that were issued.




This baffling item is an American Half Dime encased within a Chinese 20 cash coin with Russian writing added in after. The only thing I can guess about this is it may have been related to Russian/Chinese trade in the early 1900s.

I generally try to wait a bit more before adding stuff, but this is too good not to show off.




Though doubtlessly only a novelty item, it's really quite nice to see something made with a slice of highly polished anthracite.

Of course, while I'm at it...



The White Elephant Saloon clay jugs are recognized as trade tokens due to their "good for ten cents" on them. There are a couple different varieties.

There are also a few more such jugs out there, from Arkansas, but the rest of the numismatic community seems not to have come across them yet.



This leather medal was issued for the Detroit Coin Club's 150th meeting in 1930 and is recognized (by Maryland TAMS) as America's first modern leather numismatic item.



This coin won coin of the year in 2012. It has an iron ladle that you can put atop the coin and in turn it acts like a compass, pointing towards Mecca. The ladle is listed as its own coin in the world coin book.

And speaking of dual type coins...




Last year, Ghana issued the space cube coin, which consists of a 1-oz silver base and a 1-oz cube of the Aletai meteorite. The silver base has a small notch to display the meteorite and the underside has the standard coin info.

I think this is where I left off.



The Border Scouts were a militia group situated in Upington, South Africa during the Boer Wars. After going on for months without pay and there being no paper in the area, someone got the bright idea of cutting up surplus military uniforms and reissuing them as money. There are a few varieties of this issuance of money and all are rare.




This is the first German shooting medal I've seen made of leather. A local dealer found this one for me.




Those Argentinian independence medals that come in curupay and mora wood were also made of urunday.




Pocket barometers had a paper strip that changed color according to the weather. Most were made with vulcanized rubber. This one dates to the 1880s and yes, they are listed as tokens in the Schenkman Hard Rubber Tokens book. There are apparently far more of them out there than were listed there, though.




Certain guitar picks that were (and are) being given out by bands on tour also double as drink tokens. This one is from this year.




These austere tokens were issued by John Krosby of Norway as householder money in the 1830s. This particular one had a value of 6 skilling.




This is presumably a pilgrim's badge as it was discovered near the Pilgrim's Way in England. It is carved out of slate.




I was happy when I found this, only to realize that it's apparently the second medal that this company made of milk (or casein -- milk protein). If anybody finds the other, let me know.




Stickers on coins are common. Stickered coins where the sticker is a good-for are scarce.




This so-called dollar celebrates Joseph Wharton, who lobbied the US to make coins out of nickel, then founded the Wharton School of Business, and then founded INCO when the nickel ran out in Gap, PA. It is, of course, made with pure nickel.