I picked this up recently while browsing eBay. Haven't received it yet. Put in what I considered to be a low bid and ended up winning. I don't collect exonumia in general, but I think these are very interesting.
This is a rather interesting piece. Here is the one I bought a few years ago at the Baltimore show. I'm sure you got yours for less. Here is a write-up I did on this piece at the time I acquired it. Dana Bickford invented an “automatic knitting machine” which he tried to market in Europe. Sometime around 1874 Dana Bickford, who was a resident of New York City, returned from a trip to Europe. While there he had experienced the expense and hassle of having to exchange his money every time he moved from one country to another. Upon his return, Bickford submitted a proposal for an international coinage to Dr. Henry Linderman who was Director of the U.S. Mint. Linderman was intrigued by the idea because the mint was currently spending half a million dollars a year on recoinage and waste from handling foreign coins. Linderman had some pattern coins struck, dated 1874, which are listed as Judd numbers 1373 to 1378. Congress failed to act on the proposal which killed the idea. In 1897 Dana Bickford addressed the idea of an international coinage a second time. This time he eight varieties of patterns or “dollars” produced. I found the political aspect of these pieces interesting. Although Bickford did have a couple of pieces made of silver and gold, the collectable varieties are made of aluminum with a brass or copper center. It addressed the bimetallism issue, which had been the core of William Jennings Bryan’s 1896 run for the presidency. I have never seen so many words on such a small piece. It is not easy to read sentences, even from a photo, so I have provided Bickford’s thoughts and proposals here. Obverse This combination coin will when adopted be good in all nations Heal all differences between gold and silver men And fully settle all financial questions Approved by all good business men “Gold and Silver” Center in copper: “Republican dollar Internat.l” Reverse Here is shown the value of our dollar in the coin of different nations of the world Sterling 4.2 Francs 5.2 Kronen 3.8 Gulden 2.8 Marken 4.16 Guilder 2.50 Rouble 9.65 Yen 1.1 Invented an protected by Dana Bickford Center in copper: “Republican dollar Internat,n”
I had bid a little more, but ending up buying it for $59 and free shipping. I bought it without researching FMV very much, but thought the price was fair. Yes, I found this piece to be really interesting. Apparently, democrats could not use these in monetary exchanges.
