Got outbid on a sutler token at the last minute (I was trying to corner the market on this type), so in a knee-jerk reaction to ease the pain, I sprung on this odd token I've had watched for a while. Not much is known, and this token is fairly rare with only three examples mentioned on the interwebs. Fortunately, D.L. Auld is still in business here in Columbus, so I may make a trip to their offices and see if they have any records.
3 correctly made two headed pennies. a school shop made crude two headed nickle. Both sides of the two headed coin, you can still see the depressions in the faces from over clamping. School and home made ones never seem to thin the mating sides down so it longs more real
Well this thread has been on a bit of a chip binge here lately and here are a couple from my collection of military chips. Turns out there are quite a few military chips, most unlisted in Cunningham. John Kallman has put together a nice guide to them. All images courtesy of eBay seller cashcoin - he has lots of chips and tokens and I've been buying from him for a while. These two from Bitburg AB, Germany are made of wood. The 25¢ chip has a stamp on the reverse that reads "30 Sep 1960" The chips below are attributed to Columbus Air Force Base:
Here's a couple more. These are pretty cool they're from a base in England, RAF Sculthorpe. Photos courtesy eBay seller cashcoin. Check out the 47th Bombardment Wing patch:
I'm frustrated that several of my tokens are not where they should be. So far it appears tokens from Alabama are MIA. I'm sure I've just misplaced them...but it's frustrating me because I'm working on getting my tokens in binders. Well...guess I'll need to track them down. Other frustrations include not being able to verify the attribution of a couple tokens. I don't have a picture of one...but here's one that has stumped me. Photo courtesy of eBay seller cashcoin. This chip clearly says where it's from...L.A. A.F.S. The only problem is I can't find anything that fits with L.A. Air Force Station. There is a Los Angeles Air Force Base (LAAFB), and this token was attributed to LAAFB but as far as I can tell Los Angeles AFB never operated a radio station. A useful website to research Air Force Stations is radomes.org. The website is operated by guys who used to work these sites and were the constant watch of the U.S. from the U.S.S.R. Sadly as we've entered the era of the satellites, the radar operators and what they've done has been largely forgotten. Anyway - I'm going to keep researching. I want to verify this is from Los Angeles or not.
Los Alamos is a research facility but I don't think they were ever an AFS - do you have a reference for that? I could very easily be wrong but I can't find that Los Alamos ever operated a radar station.
Nope. Never seen that website before either. Thanks! Edit: Kallman, who submitted it there attributes it to Los Angeles. I'm just not sure. He is more knowledgeable and more experienced than I am.
Thanks! The Air Force used to be pretty clear about it's naming conventions. Air Force Bases had runways with flying units. Air Force Stations were radar sites with no flying units. Los Angeles Air Force Base is sort of inbetween. They never had a flying unit...maybe there was a time it was called an AFS. It requires more research on my end.
Here's a couple from Glasgow Air Force Base. Initially it was opened in Montana near the U.S./Canada border as a fighter-interceptor wing in 1951. It closed in '68 but was reopened in '71 to only be closed again in '76. From about 1958 to 1976 it was a bomber/refueler base, operating B-52s and KC-135s. When the base closed for good it destroyed the local economy and people have fled the area ever since. These chips are part of the numismatic legacy left by the base, as no other tokens have been recorded. Apparently there are 4 chip types available. Here are mine, images courtesy of eBay seller cashcoin.
Jwt708; The "S" stands for Station. Los Angeles Air Force Station. In 1987 it was renamed the Los Angeles Air Force Base. At that time it began to serve as a support group to the Air Force's missile defense system. It now is a non-flight base. No aircraft are assigned there, although visiting personnel can fly in and out as needed. Your chip must be pre-1987 in origin.
The British copper tokens of the early 19th century were generally put to use in commerce so they are tougher to find uncirculated than most Conder tokens.
Back to Great Britain, but a prize medal this time. The engraver is James Restall and it is 'after Wyon', this design being original to William Wyon for a medal made as a private commission for Prince Albert in 1844 or 1845. There is more than one Restall/Wyon prize medal, not sure if I posted the other one before. Random trivia tidbit: Quintin Hogg was a tea and sugar merchant in London. Among his philanthropist concerns was educational reform. He established several schools including the Young Men's Christian Institute. After expansion, a move and further expansion the school is still active as the University of Westminster. [/IMG]