This is a beat up brass token with what appears to be a beehive on one side and Justice on the other. undated and smaller than the British copper Halfpenny & Farthing beehive tokens. Any help is appreciated.
Are you sure it's brass and not bronze? The beehive is sometimes used on some French medals, medalets and jetons. Is there anything stamped on the edge? Chris
Cool token. I don't have a copy of it, but if you do or have access to one -- you might want to check out the listing of RC Bell's "unofficial farthings". They are about this size, mostly struck in the 1820s-1870s -- and this would fit the bill. Just a wild guess.
The beehive is also a symbol of the Mormon church; could it be a communion token? This would account for no denomination...
Thanks for the replies guys. It is brass for sure, to small for an immitation Farthing, its even smaller than a US Cent. Only weighs 2 grams.
Best guess: an old toy money or imitation of something like one of these: http://www.timelineauctions.com/lot/stockport-token-shilling-1812-16-bees/1055/ http://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=2899&pos=26
Neither of the pieces you linked to are "toy money" or "imitations". They are privately issued tokens...one a Conder token, the other a token indexed in Davis' book. They are both types of money that actually circulated due to the shortage of regally issued coins. If it really is brass (and I believe davey) then it is likely that it could be a counter or jeton of some sort, sure. But what you linked to are not those types of pieces.