Help with Brooklyn Bridge Medal/Token

Love those too! Your one lucky person, they have all been very interesting! I'm wondering what exactly the "Starch Polish" is all about. Maybe Bruce can field that one too. Thanks for posting these, they are great! Keep-um coming if you have more, sorry about making you work so hard, LOL. Also, your photos are really nice shots especially in reguards to copper. I'm still learning how to do it, looks to me like you have it nailed!

 

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I don't mind this at all. It's not really work because I think it's fun to share and get other people's opinions. As far as the the Lincolns and Buffalos, I have a lot. The only Lincoln's I'm thinking of holding onto are a 1922 and a 1909 VDB. I found out on another thread that I have a 1922 die#1 and it's a misaligned die. I actually have two others, one is a fake and I haven't posted the other yet. Don't want to overwhelm anyone with too many pics at once. I'm afraid they may get annoyed. As far as the pictures go, I think I'm just lucky because I have a good camera.:smile

 

Nice tokens Traci. I can't help you with the sesquicentennial piece, but I am familiar with the Professor Johnson token. His full name is William Johnson, and he was N.Y. City perfumer in the 1850's and 60's. He made soaps, hair dyes, blacking (shoe polish), and a bunch of other chemicals. The portrait is actually that of Louis Kossuth the Hungarian revolutionary of the late 1840's. He was very popular in the U.S. and when he came to this country for a visit in 1852 (the date on your token) he was treated like royalty. Apparently Johnson used his celebrity to help sell his products. The good professor issued a bunch of different tokens, mostly in the 1850's. They're documented in Russ Rulau's token catalogue, which is one of the "bibles" for collectors. This particular token is designated NY 401 by Rulau. All of his tokens were struck by the Scovill Manufacturing Co. of Waterbury, CT. Unfortunately, they're all fairly common and not worth a lot, but still it's a nice historic piece.

Bruce

 

Sorry, I forgot to answer your question about Fuld. George and Melvin Fuld are early cataloguers of Civil War tokens. Their work isn't anywhere on line, but updated versions are available from different sources.

Bruce

 

Thanks so much for the history and information Bruce! That's really cool about the Johnson token. I've learned more from you in two days than I have in 2 months on the internet. I appreciate all your knowledge! I looked at the Civil War Token Society website and think I my join. It seems like a good reference. One more set of pictures I want to show you. I really like this coin. Sorry for the brightness of the pic. It's hard to get a good shot since it's so shiny! Thanks again!
Traci

 

Terrific Brooklyn Bridge . It's a shame it's holed , but still a great piece of history. Thanks for sharing it with us and welcome to CT.

 

Thanks! Can you tell me why they put holes in them back then? I several old ones with holes.

 

I would think just so they could be worn as jewelry.

 

They're refered to as "holed for suspension" and were worn on a chain around the neck or attached to a pin or key fob. Some of them were made with the hole in them so it doesn't detract from the value. Others were holed by the owner at a later date, but in most instances it doesn't seem to hurt the value too much, especially if the hole is clean and undamaged. There are quite a few counterstamped coins found with holes, put there for the same reasons. People in those days commonly wore charms, medals, love tokens, personal ID, or whatnot on their person for a variety of reasons.

Bruce