This is a York County Pennsylvania Token. It celebrates the 225th anniversary of York, PA, which was the first capital of the new Nation. Please read the inscription on the reverse which is the top photo. Not many people are aware of this fact.
My mistake and my apologies. I blew it so what is below is correct. I'll do a sroerate thread for the other token. I mixed two of them up. Old age you know. Lol
Today old age caught up to me. I can't do a thing correct. You're still a kid but you've got the next 8 1/2 months to think about it. Hahahehehoho.
From Wikipedia: York, also known as Yorktown in the mid 18th to early 19th centuries, was founded in 1741 by settlers from the Philadelphia region and named for the English city of the same name. By 1777, most of the area residents were of either German or Scots-Irish descent.[12] York was incorporated as a borough on September 24, 1787, and as a city on January 11, 1887. During the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), York served as the temporary capital of the Continental Congress. The Articles of Confederation was drafted and adopted in York, though they were not ratified until March 1781.
The claim that it was the first capital is based exclusively on the fact that the Articles of Confederation were drafted during a brief meeting of the Second Continental Congress in York. They weren't even ratified there - that happened in what most of us would consider the true capital during the Revolution, in Philadelphia. If you have a Second congress, then that means you had to have a first. They met in Philadelphia. Even the Second Congress primarily (and initially) met in Philadelphia (where they wrote the Declaration of Independence.) I'd call York more of "one of the locations that the Congress adjourned" than a capital in any way. The moved around a bit to avoid capture by the British - but they started in Philadelphia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_capitals_in_the_United_States#Capitals_of_the_U.S.
There have actually been 9 locations for the capital. Depending on ones definition the claim varies. York is actually where the Articles of Confederation were drafted. York sometimes declares itself the First Capital of the United States because the Articles of Confederation are the first known legal documents to actually refer to the colonies as "the United States of America." The Declaration of Independence uses the phrase as well, but some historians say it wasn't a legal document at the time because the colonies were still under British rule. Even the Articles of Confederation are argued to be legal. York has numerous monuments, land markers and historic sites, all with government ties claiming it to be the first capital. York has made the claim for over 200 years and the federal government does not argue against that. Is it the first? I really don't know but they claim it is and history shows us it's a good argument.
Jason, I don't disagree with you. I'm just pointing out that there is some wrong information floating around in never-never land, and there are people who think it is correct. Whatever company made that medalet probably researched very little. ~ Chris
History shows us its good publicity, at the very least Didn't mean to rain on your parade, I just hadn't heard that claim before and it seemed odd to me.
There's those history markers you find beside the highway in a number of locations and they claim to be the first. We're coming up on 250 years soon and the claims are still argued.
