Is this classified as a token or medal?

http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j368/wvabe/016-1.jpg?t=1291069634

Token or Medal or Gag or was it really used?

 

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My guess is they were made for the tourists.

 

Souvenir, I didn't think about that, thanx...

 

While this piece certainly is not Chinese, the four Chinese characters have been used on Chinese marriage charms for centuries.

I discuss this inscription at "Meaning of Wind, Flowers, Snow, Moon".

A typical Chinese "marriage charm" with this inscription can be seen here.

Gary

 

Yep i'd go with a charm or possiably a gag gift...?

 

This is one of a series of fantasy tokens. Basically it is just a novelty item.

 

"Sex education" humor was what first came to my mind. It is a nice souvenir.

 

A "souvenir" would be a token representing a place. Since there is no such place as this or this token is not actually issued by such a place, it really is a fantasy token. One could make an argument that a fantasy token is a medal but this is largely semantics.

Medals commemmorate events or places and tokens represent ideas or values. Even a real souvenir token is usually more a token than a medal because it represents a person's visit to a place which makes it a token. Obviously there is not a hard and fast line between token and medal but this object is a fantasy because it doesn't represent a real value and place. It was made for collectors or as a conversation piece rather than another type. It also is like a token as it supposedly represents something of value.

Suffice to say I'm in agreement with Cwtokenman.