As I mentioned in my post about the Wells Fargo & Company coin holder that was produced as a souvenir gift for its employees, the World's Columbian Exposition Company did not create an official decorative holder for its souvenir half dollar, but many unofficial holders were created by private companies - with a number created by banks. Many of these alternate holders were in the form of small circular or square leather pouches.
As for the Wells Fargo & Company holder I previously presented, the market availability of these holders is limited - the coins are far more available! - but they do become available from time to time.
In this post, I'd like to present a leather pouch coin holder that I added to my collection a bit more than seven years ago.
It is a leather holder, dyed to a deep burgundy color and imprinted with "COLUMBIAN /1492 / CHICAGO / 1892 / EXPOSITION" in gold on the front of the interior pocket. As the pouch does not feature the name of a bank, I am not sure if it was used by a bank to distribute coins or used by some other business. I can envision a scenario in which "generic" holders were produced and made available to banks (and other businesses) that did not want to incur the higher production cost associated with a custom imprinted pouch. I like it as part of my collection whether it was used by a bank or not.
The holder I purchased did not include a coin, but if it had an original coin and it had been stored in the holder over many years, it would most likely have been deeply toned on both sides (as a result of the oils and other chemicals in the leather). I have seen some of these holders with bright and shiny Columbian half dollars accompanying them that their sellers are claiming are original. I've always questioned the authnticity of such claims/pairings. For such a coin to be original and untoned, it would either have had to have been placed in a separate protective holder very early on or dipped/cleaned at some point. Of course, it could also not be the holder's original coin at all!
I don't know if there is a technical name for its shape, but it is basically a circular pouch with a squared off top. I have also seen square holders with the same gold imprint.
The holder/pouch remains supple and in very good condition.
1892 World's Columbian Exposition - Columbus Half Dollar
1892 Columbian Exposition Leather Pouch - Generic - Closed
1892 Columbian Exposition Leather Pouch - Generic - Open
1892 Columbian Exposition Leather Pouch - Merchant's Bank
(Image Credit: Bowers & Merena Auctions, The Richard C. Jewell Collection. March 9, 2005.)To read more about the Columbian Exposition - Columbus half dollar, check out:
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1892 Columbian Exposition-
1892 Columbian Exposition - Cousins-
1892 Columbian Exposition - Special Day Badges-
1892 Columbian Exposition - Metallic Ephemera-
1892-93 Columbian Exposition - Wells Fargo & Company HolderFor more of my posts on the Columbian Exposition and other commemorative coins and medal, see
Read More: Commems Collection.
Posted 08/26/2021 12:23 pm
