I went to the Garden State Numismatic Association coin show yesterday with merlin1066 and picked up these two new notes. The S.W.& W.A. Torrey note is a piece of NJ obsolete scrip from Manchester Twp. (renamed Lakehurst in 1921) Ocean Co., NJ. Samuel W. and William A. Torrey were brothers who conducted their business in Manchester c 1860's. It's not clear exactly what their business was, but apparently they operated a furnace that manufactured charcoal, one that their father William had started years earlier. They were also involved in the railroad business and built and operated a section of the New Jersey Southern Railroad, and later the New Jersey Central. Since the company issued 5, 10, 25, and 50 cent notes as well as $1, $2, $3 and $5 scrip, I'm not sure if this is a 5 cent or $5 note (it's probably 5 cents). The hand stamp that they applied to change the date seems to be common for their issues, as all others I've examined have the same feature, though different dates. The sutler scrip is the second that I've acquired for this series. I posted a 5 cent piece awhile ago, and this 10 cent note is my second. I still need to find the 25 and 50 cent examples. They seem to be a lot scarcer, so it may take some to time to find those two. I thought these were nice examples that fit into my obsolete and Civil War collections nicely. I hope you enjoy them, and thanks for looking. Bruce
Bruce: I love em... great looking vignettes with some engraving Features that resemble the fractionals of the Civil War Era of Postage Currency. Nice addditions.. RickieB
Bruce, those are some great looking notes...the color and vignettes are stunning on that fiver I gotta ask, where are the counter stamps, I know you had to find at least one!
Thanks RickieB, I hadn't thought of that but they do remind you of the Civil War fractionals. I bought these from Spencer Peck a dealer from Oldwick, NJ. He had a nice group of NJ obsoletes, and a few more that I would have liked to buy, but.... Bruce
Wow!, they looked great when you bought them at the show. For some reason they look even better now! I guess it's because my eyes are just geting worse LOL. I can see the fine line work much clearer in your scans. I really like 10! Thanks for the info on them as well. When you know the history behind them it makes them even more interesting to me.
Since the company issued 5, 10, 25, and 50 cent notes as well as $1, $2, $3 and $5 scrip, I'm not sure if this is a 5 cent or $5 note (it's probably 5 cents). Read more: http://www.cointalk.com/t174783/#ixzz1MMEJWDXd It's 5 dollars: "...will pay Five Dollars to bearer on demand in goods..." Very pretty notes.
Great Looking notes. I always have been fascinated with NJ Obsoletes and Nationals. I once owned a 1929 National from the Prospect Park NB of Prospect Park, NJ in VF. It was a very scarce note.
Thanks Player, I love the obsoletes because of the history behind them. The private scrip issues are even more interesting to me because it gives me an opportunity to research these old long forgotten companies. Since I live in NJ and needed to focus on one or two areas, I decided to stick to NJ issues and also some Civil War-era notes. Thanks for looking. Bruce
I wanted to ressurect this thread and let you know I just bought a 50 Cent note from this sutler. I posted earlier about the 5 and 10 Cent pieces I have and my goal of getting one of each denomination he issued (5, 10, 25, and 50 Cents). I now have all except the 25 Cent denomination. This 50 isn't quite as nice as the others, but still a nice note. Although not as high a grade , I paid more for it than the other two because of its scarcity. I believe the 25 may even be harder to find, but I'll run across one someday and be able to complete my set. Thanks for looking Bruce
Bruce, I've been busy and am just catching up. These are superb looking additions to your growing collection. I'm so glad I got to see and read about them here from you. Very nice pick ups.
