Sales tax tokens are fractional cent devices that were used to pay sales tax on very small purchases in many American states during the years of the Great Depression. They were created as a means for consumers to avoid being "overcharged" by having to pay a full penny tax on purchases of 5 or 10 cents. I had opportunity to purchase a small collection of State Tax Tokens a couple of years ago. So, I did, just to research and learn what they are all about. Numismatic research on these tokens has been interesting. Mostly about Taxation and Humanitarian laws that came into existence during and after the Great Depression. It has been stated that there are over 500 different varieties of tokens from 13 + states. The variety of material used in the manufacturing of these token has been a fun study. I have found errors in amongst them, things like Die Clashes, Mis-aligned Die Strikes. In this collection the most common size is ~23 mm, 16mm, Common denominations are 1,2,5 mills. I would speculate that plastic and aluminum is the most common material used. I save several of the best examples of each type that I have found. Presently I have approximately 54 different one, which is some of the most common ones otherwise I would not have them. Research info say these are not very valuable, other sites I have seen point to the contrary. Some of these are additions to the original collection. Most of these are pushing past the 80-year-old mark and its really anyone’s guess how they will be viewed in another 20 years. Please post photos of your Sales Tax Tokens. Alabama up first.
I'm curious about what happened before these tokens were used. If a customer paid a full cent tax on something with only .5 cent tax, does the business profit the extra .5 cent? It would add up after a while.
Very nice and informative post. Thanks for doing it. My grandfather gave me some years ago. More info on sales tax tokens can be found at the link below . Cal link: taxtoken.org
I think some day people will wake up and realize that these are just as much US coins as any $20 gold piece. Then they will find not only that some are very scarce but that almost all of them are rare in high grade. There are tens of millions of them and dozens of collectors. But the 50 most common tax tokens account for most of the ones that survive. I never put as much time into my collection as it deserves but did have a lot of fun seeking out new varieties and upgrades. I have a lot of time and postage in my set but almost no money.
Who minted the tokens? Where were they distributed and were they sold for face value? They are neat but I have a lot of questions haha. I've seen them often and have a couple somewhere but never thought much of them since they are usually very cheap. I should do some more research
I am not sure of mintage locations. I do suspect there were many different ones. It seem logical that they were sold at face. At some point they would all become voided if not redeemed. I'm glad you are interested with them.