I have got in my collection strange token - made of brass, size typical for canadian half penny tokens, denomination 1 penny, w/o date. Obv: sun with the face, next line ONE PENNY. Rev: flying goose, wood and double razor axe, inscription DUM TACET CLAMAT. I`ve used this motive as the recognition signal of vampires society in my new horror short story, but I`d like to know about it little more in a real world. So, could you tell me ... bla, bla, bla...
nyhariel Go to this page,scroll down about 2/3 of the way to "Out of the Woods" and you'll have your answer. http://www.treasurenet.com/westeast/data/askmarkparker/robots/200501.htm
What is the connection between your token and the Masons? Woodmen of the World is a mutual insurance group, not a branch of Masonry.
Satootoko, please, keep in mind I was born in socialistic reality and grow up in the cult of work, so I feel a deep respect for every hard working group. But woodmen brotherhood sounds strange to me. Is it a kind of union of work? Probably my token is worth nothing - but what a history! I like it and the story hidden in this piece of brass seems to be fascinating.
Mutual benefit life insurance associations are actually a very socialistic concept my friend. A group of people form an association and make contributions to a fund which is then used to pay death benefits to the families of deceased members. Modernly they are regulated in the US much the same way as other mutual or cooperative insurance companies. My recollection of their history is that the Woodmen of the World drew its initial membership from workers in the forest and lumber industries, and became a fraternal organization as well as an insurance co-op. The point of my earlier was simply that the Freemasons are also a fraternal organization, but other than the fact that there have undoubtedly been people who belonged to both, they have no affiliation with the Masons.
I wouldn't call mutual insurance companies socialistic. Membership is voluntary. The business is run on an actuarially sound basis with premiums plus investment income equalling death benefits on a group basis over time. Unlike "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need," the company is operated in a capitalistic manner with profits accruing to the owners [policyholders] of the business and not distributed as the government or even board of directors sees fit. I had to throw that in, but it's still a neat token. I've seen some Metropolitan Life Insurance Company tokens around from the days when it was a mutual insurance company, before it went public.
