• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Post a medal or a token.

385 posts in this topic

That's a nice looking "Washington Before Boston" Comita Americana medal Bill. I thought about getting an early 1800s restrike a while back but passed at the time. Yours looks like a great piece.

 

Does anyone know where Washington's gold one is today? I've been to Mount Vernon a couple of times but didn't see or hear about it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Got my Tokens in from Greg - I will picture them tonight -

 

It is true what they say - ICG will Slab anything - See Gregs previous post

(perhaps he can find it and bring it to the top as I found it quite informative and amusing )

 

Thanks again Greg thumbsup2.gif893applaud-thumb.gifheadbang.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's Greg's thread: Fun with ICG - My Long Journey Toward Dementia smile.gif

 

I'm still unconvinced that wooden nickels are categorically ungradable since the cardboard ration token was graded. Perhaps it was just something with that particular wooden nickel? Perhaps he should try again with a different wooden nickel? 893scratchchin-thumb.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's a nice looking "Washington Before Boston" Comita Americana medal Bill. I thought about getting an early 1800s restrike a while back but passed at the time. Yours looks like a great piece.

 

Does anyone know where Washington's gold one is today? I've been to Mount Vernon a couple of times but didn't see or hear about it.

 

The gold one that Thomas Jefferson awarded to George Washington is supposed to be in the collection of the Boston Public Library. There was also a set of Comitia American medals medals in silver that Jefferson gave to Washington at the same time. Today that set is in the Massachusetts Historical Society collection.

 

Back in the mid 1870s a group of Boston citizens pooled their money and bought the gold medal so that it would be available for the public to see. I read somewhere that the library was supposed to display the piece on Washington's birthday every year. I worked in Boston for a number of the years, but the medal never appeared on the first president's birthday.

 

I asked at the library if it was possible for a citizen to see the medal. I explained that I owned this piece, which was struck from the same set of dies, and offered to show it to them. After a considerable run around the answer was "No." They did sell me a booklet that was written by gentlemen who did not respect the medal, and they tried to sell me a tiny copy of it.

 

One chilling comment that I heard was, "Didn't the director of the library take that home with him?" Given the way Massachusetts politics works, it wouldn't surprise me if the medal is now in the hands of a private collector. Among the New England states, only Vermont is more corrupt.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One chilling comment that I heard was, "Didn't the director of the library take that home with him?" Given the way Massachusetts politics works, it wouldn't surprise me if the medal is now in the hands of a private collector. Among the New England states, only Vermont is more corrupt.
893whatthe.gif Wow, that is disappointing to hear. Thanks for the info thumbsup2.gif
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The original picture

 

 

1811826-bell_icg.jpg

 

 

Then the actual returns from Icg - Kinda C00l .. I didnt even care about the grade really just the encapsulation ...

 

 

1811826-new_tokens.jpg

1811826-new_tokens.jpg.ae4c5557063b09eaaa57c31db8e65cb0.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bill,

 

Great Medal and great story/history. I am not surprised at the possibility of the director "borrowing" the piece.

 

FYI, my wife was passing by the computer and saw your piece and was astounded.

 

thumbsup2.gif

 

 

Rey

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Larry. Congress Hall was a hotel in Saratoga Springs, a tourist hot spot (literally as it was an area of hot springs). Construction began in 1811 and was Gideon Putman's second hotel in the area after Union Hall. Here is some general history. I'm not sure how your token was used but it might have something to do with that hotel.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Larry. Congress Hall was a hotel in Saratoga Springs, a tourist hot spot (literally as it was an area of hot springs). Construction began in 1811 and was Gideon Putman's second hotel in the area after Union Hall. Here is some general history. I'm not sure how your token was used but it might have something to do with that hotel.

Great information. Thanks

Any thoughts on who William R Brown was?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Any thoughts on who William R Brown was?
Not right now. I had the Congress Hall information handy because I looked it up before. I'll do some digging for WR Brown when I have some time.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

bustoken-1.jpg

bustokenrev.jpg

New Jersey Bus Token

Year, unknown, 5/8" diameter, brass alloy

Obv inscription GOOD FOR ONE FARE

Rev inscription COAST CITIES COACHES Inc. (-script) Denis J. Gallagher

The cardboard quarter size flip is ancient, marked $2.00 then .15 ending up with .25

my only question, why so small?confused.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A little while ago I picked this up in a token grab bag on the bay. I don't collect these but thought it was neat because it had a golfer on it. I was surprised to find it listed on a few websites with a couple of different varieties, no RWM, RWM on one side and RWM on both sides. There's also what seems to be a later Indiana version in someone's Flickr token collection album. The Roger Williams Mint has been acquired by Tokens Direct so I'm guessing there won't be any more tokens with the RWM initials. Apparently Ball-O-Matic is also now based in Madison Heights, MI instead of Niles.

 

Ballomatic-Niles-MI_Golf-Token_600x380.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here is one bit of nostalgia shy.gif

1812014-Picture035.jpg

1812014-Picture034.jpg

 

I love that car medal. thumbsup2.gif

 

The interesting thing about the Hudson automobiles of the early to 1950s was that they were about the fastest thing on the road with a really powerful V-8 engine. The car actually sold quite well at that time. But then the company was absorbed by Nash - American Motors and the brand disappeared.

 

During the last year of the Hudson, which was 1957, the car bore a strong resemblance to the parent company’s flagship, the Nash Ambassador. Contemporary people and modern car collectors contemptibly call that model the “Hash.”

 

The car was still fast, however. My father, who was an American motors booster, owned one of the last Nash Ambassadors, a 1957 Ambassador Super. Unknown to my father one of the guys who worked for him used to test it out when he was driving the car for my father on errands. One day I heard this employee comment to friend that the car could “fill the speedometer” i.e. make to 120.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A little while ago I picked this up in a token grab bag on the bay. I don't collect these but thought it was neat because it had a golfer on it. I was surprised to find it listed on a few websites with a couple of different varieties, no RWM, RWM on one side and RWM on both sides. There's also what seems to be a later Indiana version in someone's Flickr token collection album. The Roger Williams Mint has been acquired by Tokens Direct so I'm guessing there won't be any more tokens with the RWM initials. Apparently Ball-O-Matic is also now based in Madison Heights, MI instead of Niles.

 

Ballomatic-Niles-MI_Golf-Token_600x380.jpg

 

That's a cool one, especially since I live just a short drive from Niles!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is a very small portion of my medal collection, and I'd be hard pressed to choose a favorite.

 

1812656-IMG_1576.JPG

 

Chris

1812656-IMG_1576.JPG.8628df4e0473e97726205f2c13b6345d.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Chris, those are some beautiful EAMs (European Artist Medals). I think the quality and variety of artistry in EAMs makes them a very attractive alternative to coins. Great looking collection smile.gifthumbsup2.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the day before EZ-Pass, we used to buy tokens at the bridges in New York to make commuting easier. The Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA), which ran the bridges and tunnels connecting New York's interboro passage ways under the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), would sell individual tokens or rolls of 20 for two weeks of commuting so that users could drop them into the exact toll bins. The TBTA operates seven bridges and two tunnels.

 

At the time I bought this token, the toll was $2.50. Now the toll is $4.50. Toll for the Verrazano-Narrows bridge paid when going into Staten Island but not when crossing into Brooklyn. The tokens are no longer used with the introduction of the EZ-Pass electronic toll system. Here is a token from that era:

 

1812813-TBTA-Token.jpg

 

Sometimes, it is just fun having something from your past. It's just cool!!

 

Scott hi.gif

1812813-TBTA-Token.jpg.b6e030ff034cc66416f0107ef10091a0.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lets go a little bit earilyer with this 1837 large cent ..

 

I have been unable to trace this one and its a shame it wont grade frown.gif

 

1812851-USAT.jpg

1812851-USATr.jpg

 

any information grately recived hi.gif

1812851-USATr.jpg.fabbabcfc3fcf86cd82aff97602f91f5.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In keeping with transportation memories of my days in New York and Long Island, how about the bronze medal commemorating the sesquicentennial of the Long Island Rail Road:

 

1812864-LIRR150.jpg

 

Scott hi.gif

1812864-LIRR150.jpg.e22e82b67485d075c8ae531e6e9fff3f.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites