Hello all! This is my first post to this site! I am a Civil War relic hunter from Tennessee that has been in the hobby for several years. One of my first finds is this half dollar sized token that was recovered at an old house site in Murfreesboro Tennessee, near The Stones River National Battlefield. I have recovered a number of cool Civil War artifacts here at this site including some rare bullets and even a US belt buckle but the majority of stuff I recovered is some junk from the early 1900s. One of the more notable items is a 1916 dated letter opener advertising a law office in Boston Mass. Anyways, I was wondering if someone could help me identify what this may be since I have found no help with google searches. This token on the front has a primative rabbit on it with the words Bunny Hutch Grill Cleveland, O... On the back it has the phrase A pal to a pal at the top and the word gangster in the middle. It also has a No. 23 in the middle and a series of numbers going around the coins edges as if maybe it is a code for access to a VIP possibly into a 1920s-1930s Speak Easy. I was told by a couple of more experienced collecters I should look into its originality as I may have a desirable collectors item. As I mentioned, it was one of the first pieces I recovered out of a very large collection. I made a mistake by cleaning it with brasso and while I shined the surface, the patina in the recessed ridges of the numbers is still intact to authenticate its age. I still regret that! Anyone know anything or heard similar stories about something like this or know of someone who may help? Any help is appriciated! Thanks!!! Brent - www.rutherfordcountyboys.com
Probably NOT a "Speak easy" as they would not really want to advertise their location. True speak easys were illegal establishments, you either knew where it was located or you didn't and if you didn't then you had no business being there unless accompanied by someone who did. My bet is it dates after 1946 and was used as an advertising gimmick by the Bunny Hutch Grill based on a line from the 1946 cartoon Rackateer Rabbit. The line was "What a pal, what a pal, what a pal." with the voice of Edward G Robinson as the gangster Rocky. Bugs Bunny, Bunny Hutch Grill. Gangster No 23, Rocky the gangster. "What a pal, what a pal, what a pal", A pal to a pal. Just seem to work too well to be an accident, and the token was probably good for some item or discount on a purchase. They were probably given out by employees, or possibly the owner gave them to favored customers to give to friends. The number stamped into it would let the owner know who referred the new customer. People who referred a lot of new customers might also get discounts or special perks.
Lipscomb lists this token in "Ohio Merchant Tokens", 2nd edition. He assigns it id CL4050, and gives it a desirability rating of 4 on a scale of 1 to 99, so I would dare say that this token is not a rare one. Ohio tokens with a d.r. of 4 often sell for $5 or less on ebay, but since this one is a bit different than the usual merchant token, it may attract a little more interest. The stamped number on the one listed by Lipscomb is 245. Sorry that I can not tell you more. While I have no facts to back me up, I am in agreement with Conder101.
