New York Central Rail Road Express Trains - Cwt Token

To participate in the forum you must log in or register.

Author	Replies: 2 / Views: 2,724
CheetahCats Pillar of the Community United States 731 Posts	Posted 02/14/2011 7:13 pm The New York Central Railroad was an amalgamation of numerous railroads in the northeastern United States. It can trace its inception to the year 1826 and the chartering of the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad. Its original purpose was to provide a more cost effective and efficient alternative for passengers and freight to the Erie Canal System between Schenectady and Albany¹. Over the course of the next 20+ years additional railroads formed throughout the state of New York. In 1853 no less than 10 of these railroads agreed to merge. On May 17, 1853 they became the New York Central Railroad¹. Erastus Corning was the Chief of the railroad when the merger was undertaken. Later, the railroad was lead by [the infamous] Cornelius Vanderbilt.² Erastus Corning Below please find a New York Central Rail Road token that I acquired this evening. Though Rulau lists no date for the token, it was struck sometime in the years of 1862 through 1864³. At or around the time this token was struck, the Main Line of the New York Central Railroad consisted of almost 300 track miles stretching from Buffalo to Albany; of total, the system consisted of approximately 1050 miles of total track and possessed 239 locomotives. During the years 1863-1864 a total of 2.12 million miles of passenger trains were run, with a total of over 193 million passengers spanning that time-frame! During those two same years, the system earned a total of $12.99M in revenues and earned a profit of approximately $3.65M. That's a lot of money for the day, and heck of a profit margin!⁴ For just over a century, the New York Central continued operations. In 1967 it merged with the Pennsylvania Railroad, forming the Penn Central until the 1970's, when the final death knell came and the railroad went bankrupt. Services were handed over to Amtrak and Conrail¹. The token is listed as CTW-10D-1a in Rulau, with a rarity estimated at R-4 (200-499 known)⁵ I am very pleased with its coloring and condition. I estimate its condition to be Choice EF, or quite possibly AU. Thanks - Cheetah ________________________ ¹ Wikipedia - New York Central Railroad: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Yo...ral_Railroad ² New York Central Railroad: http://www.kinglyheirs.com/NewYorkS...riginal.html ³ 'American Journal of Numismatics', June 1866, Vol I, No. 2, pg. 15 ⁴ 'The Merchant's Magazine and Commercial Review', William Dana, Vol 58, Jan-Jun 1868, pg. 58 ⁵ Standard Catalog of United States Tokens 1700-1900 Vol 4, pg. 480, R. Rulau, Krause Publications, ©2004 Edited by CheetahCats 02/14/2011 8:55 pm Report this Post to the Staff

macmercury Pillar of the Community United States 5832 Posts	Posted 02/14/2011 8:23 pm Nice token with good references. I was looking a few at my local show this pass Saturday, one dealer had about 8-12 tokens, held back buying because it was to rich for my blood. Report this Post to the Staff
ExoGuy Pillar of the Community United States 4416 Posts	Posted 02/14/2011 9:21 pm Great post, CheetahCats! I much appreciate the history attached to many of our early tokens. There are many CWT's that also catalogue as transportation tokens, and this is one. This timetable token of sorts has cross-appeal to a variety of collectors; also, railroad items, Buffalo, Albany ... Nice condition, too! Report this Post to the Staff
	Replies: 2 / Views: 2,724

To participate in the forum you must log in or register.

All Forums Category: General Numismatic Forums Forum: Tokens, Medals, Challenge Coins, and other Exonumia

Silver Gold Bull US is the United States leading bullion dealer. We deliver gold coins, gold bars, silver coins, silver bars and precious metals to your door. Order today!

The First Dollar, your premier source for bullion and rare coins. See our bullion list on the site and the coin inventory on ebay.

View Last 100 New Topics

View Last 100 Active Topics

Disclaimer: While a tremendous amount of effort goes into ensuring the accuracy of the information contained in this site, Coin Community assumes no liability for errors. Copyright 2005 - 2026 Coin Community Family- all rights reserved worldwide. Use of any images or content on this website without prior written permission of Coin Community or the original lender is strictly prohibited.
Contact Us | Advertise Here | Privacy Policy / Terms of Use

Coin Community Forum

It took 0.22 seconds to rattle this change.