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 Replies: 15 / Views: 2,155 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
731 Posts |
Folks - Below please find a recent acquisition, A.B. Taylor soda water. Taylor was a druggist who emitted several varieties of tokens while he was in business. This particular variety of emission was the only one of his struck and issued during the Civil War. Listed as R-7, it was struck on white metal.  Thanks, Cheetah |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
917 Posts |
Wowzers thats an awesome one Cheetah.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4416 Posts |
Great photo of a rare token! Few WM tokens I've seen can match the brightness of this one.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12437 Posts |
So is it really as proof-like as it appears in the photo? If so,  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4416 Posts |
I see that Alfred B. Taylor is listed as a druggist at the 1015 Chestnut Street address in the 1862 Philadelphia City directory. I'm guessing that he commenced in 1861, some time after that year's directory was printed. Perhaps, this token was issued to celebrate his opening of the business? As there's no denomination upon the token, I presume that these did not much circulate?
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
731 Posts |
@Exo - soda tokens were quite popular during the era. Going back to the 1830's, merchants frequently issued soda tokens which customers would use in exchange for a glass or bottle of soda. Taylor's emissions were no different. Here are a few more examples from the Civil War era. All were used in commerce. .jpg)  .jpg) |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4416 Posts |
Yes Cheetah ... I have examples of the three you have pictured. It's evident that the Brimelow token was exchangeable for a glass, but I've yet to see evidence of the others. Despite their face value, the higher condition of the ones that I've seen suggests little circulation. The Buffum tokens are often worn and obviously circulated as a cent. The Matthews pieces that I've seen have not evidenced much circulation wear, and I question whether these or the Taylor piece was exchangeable for a soda.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1143 Posts |
Exo I believe many were used more as a buisness card than a trade stimulator. A good example would be the Ohio token for Chapman/Stevens/Gordon/Harris lists four druggists on the back. The obverse inscription states "One glass of soda or blue lick water." So the token was issued to advertise their business while offering the bearer a free drink. Problem was they moved four times that year and all the different varieties of this token were issued in 1857. That in my mind would attribute why most of these particular tokens have little to no wear as they were not used much if at all. Merchants moved often and I believe they were constantly trying to advertise/inform the public of where they were located. So you could imagine a druggist passing these out to customers and friends trying to create new business and keep their old contacts coming in. The use of this token was most likely quite short in duration.
Edited by cointagous
06/05/2012 1:28 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4416 Posts |
Yes Cointagous, I concur in general, but I was referring specifically to the beauties that Cheetah has illustrated. Note that the Matthews piece even displays the word "medal" and that was its intended use. My guess is that some of these tokens and medals were handed out at fairs or exhibitions; those events being a major draw to the public, anxious to see all the newfangled items and inventions.
There are a good many counterstamped coins that were used as good-fors, in effect. The coins had their specie value, be it the cost of a drink, a show or whatever, yet the advertising was an invitation of sorts to partake. The same is true of the tokens, methinks.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1143 Posts |
Cheetah wonderful tokens as always. Here is an example of a pre civil war Taylor. Excuse my so so pics but its a nice example. A.B. Taylor PA507 Cupronickel 20mm   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1143 Posts |
Quote:
My guess is that some of these tokens and medals were handed out at fairs or exhibitions; those events being a major draw to the public, anxious to see all the newfangled items and inventions  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4897 Posts |
This is a great thread. Thank you.....that is all....  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
731 Posts |
Steve Hayden confirms indeed that AB Taylor and the John Matthews token were indeed circulated.
Thanks,
Cheetah
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4416 Posts |
What did they circulate as ... cents? How was that determined? I've seen some of each in circulated condition, having been handled to some degree, but most have been in grades of XF or better. In my almost fifty years of collecting, having seen and handled thousands of CWT's, I've never seen any of either variety that appeared to be "circulated" - as in commercial use. In my collection, I have an 1855 Flying Eagle cent pattern that's graded Fair, having a legible date and eagle. It may have circulated to some extent, perhaps even as a Half Cent, given its diameter. More than likely, it was a "pocket piece" that was heavily handled. It's certified, and I previously posted a pic of it in a CCF thread. Now, most pattern cents never circulated and are typically found in high grade. IMHO, given my years of experience with CWT's and in no way intending to take issue with Steve Hayden, of whom I have long held the utmost regard, just how are the two scenarios different? Take the Lincoln medalets for example, obverses 124, 125, 126 and others. These are far more likely to be seen in "circulated" condition than not. I've seen them in every grade, from fair to uncirculated. I can't say that about any tokens in this thrad, but for the Buffum piece. The next time I see Steve, I'll broach this topic with him ... interesting. As something of a postscript, can anyone following this thread show me a few of the Taylor and/or Matthews pieces in grades below say VF ? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2295 Posts |
Pretty amazing tokens. It would be great to know how much are they worth and how rare they are.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
731 Posts |
@wquinn - the R-# values next to each specimen reflects an estimated rarity value, based on Fuld, etc. Here is a link where you can find many rarity values, including those for Civil War Tokens: The Various Numismatic Rarity Scales - http://www.novanumismatics.com/arti...rarities.php |
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Replies: 15 / Views: 2,155 |
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Posted 06/04/2012 9:19 pm
