This has been bothering me for a week now. I doubt a ton of people on here are actually into arcade tokens, but I collect those as well. I was going through my old coins and came across this token. I have absolutely no idea where I got it from - I've played arcades all across the country - and this is the only one that's boggling my mind. Google isn't helping me out. I'm starting to think it may actually be worth something in the token collector's world because I've only found one other guy with this coin, and he has no clue where he got it from, either. Help!!
I googled Jolly Time Fun Centers and got listing for them in Delaware and Kentucky. They're essentially amusement parks with arcades. Still in operation so I don't think your token is not a rarity.
I know I haven't been to DE, and I don't think I've hit any arcades in KY. I know there are a lot of mom and pop arcades with that name. There was also a chain, but Namco bought them out ages ago. See, with any other arcades, especially those still open, it's super easy to to Google Image these things. There's only one on there, and that's the guy that doesn't know where it's from.
If you collect arcade tokens and other advertising tokens, you'll know that they were made to order. I was in the special events business for a few years and I could get any kind of token made for my clients. Usually, one side was generic and the other side was the custom design that I provided for them. For arcades, they could buy them off the shelf (standard design on both sides) or get them custom made. Unless the token is a vintage variety of a well-known arcade or amusement park (Disney, Bally's, Wally's World, Coney Island etc.) or if there's mass collectors' desirability, I really doubt there would be much of a premium for this one. Personally, I don't see much of a "Wow" factor in this token.
Yeah, there isn't much to this coin, I'll agree, but I'd still like to know where it's from. If it is from the chain that was bought out by Namco, I'd definitely like to know.
Hang tough over the weekend, I seem to recall there are one or two other arcade token collectors on Coin Talk that could help you out. It might take a day or two to get a response.
It's entirely possible that you received it at an arcade that used tokens of the same dimension. It looks like there's a Hoffman Mint mintmark on it, you might try contacting them directly.
