Here's the only one I have and I just bought it last month. One look and I was in love. It's from the 7th Calvary, Gen. G. A. Custer's unit. It's nice to own a piece of history like this, especially knowing that George himself once handled this token. LOL
Wonder if the 12½c denomination means it was struck before 1857, when half cents disappeared from circulation? That conflicts with the fact that the Regiment was not formed until 1866, after half cents were long gone. Or was it merely to make them an even multiple, i.e., eight tokens for a dollar? ======= Anheuser-Busch as a company dates sometime after 1857, obviously: Adolphus Busch, a wholesaler who had immigrated to St. Louis from Germany in 1857, married Eberhard Anheuser's daughter, Lilly, in 1861. Following his service in the American Civil War, Busch began working as a salesman for the Anheuser brewery. Busch purchased D'Oench's share of the company in 1869, and he assumed the role of company secretary from that time until the death of his father-in-law...
Military trade tokens are my passion! I hate to bring it up but Custer died before the exchange system was established. In his day the troops relied on sutlers attached to the unit for supplies not issued by the Army. Stand by and I'll blast this thread with my various military tokens. Also I'll look up your token in Cunningham and see if it's listed. There are a couple members here who collect these...actually me and @longnine009 might be the only two here who actively target them.
A "bit" or 1/8th of a dollar was actually not that uncommon of a denomination as half a quarter - "two bits" and lasted in some usage until the late 19th century - but in the stock market it lasted until the 1980s or 1990s when they finally got rid of 1/8th etc pricing in eighths. The similarity to the Anheuser Busch logo is something.
If you like 7th Cav. they issued tokens during Vietnam as an Air Mobile regiment. All of 1st Cav. Division was Air Mobile in Vietnam except Blackhorse who was recon armor for the division. The 7th token was: Custer's Corral VN4440.
Elements of 7th Cav. also fought a famous battle in 1965 in Ia Drang valley. Regiments of 1st Cav. Division fought quite a few famous battles in Vietnam. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ia_Drang
Yup, that's a straight up ripoff and they registered the trademark as their own. Quite ballsy of them.
I wonder if A-B was responsible for your token. It looks similar to this one (one side, anyways) http://www.worldbanknotescoins.com/2013/01/us-trade-tokens-copper-cent-anheuser.html
Had another thought on the denomination. Did the 7th Cav fight in Cuba or Puerto Rico, etc., in the Spanish-American War of 1898-99? Both countries had a tradition of 12½c tokens.
Does anyone have a reference for the 7th Cavalry logo being ripped off by Anheuser Busch? I tried to find your token in Cunningham but no luck. It could be unlisted. Is it aluminum? What's the diameter? During WWII Schlitz made tokens for Losey Field, Puerto Rico. Here's one I bid on but didn't win. It went for over $300.
Here's one of my favorites, from Brooks Army Airfield. I've dated it to the interwar period, somewhere around 1927: Brooks Field, Texas; brass, 28mm, unlisted in Cunningham, TX481 Below is another one of my favorites: Luke Air Force Base, Arizona; brass, 28mm, unlisted in Cunningham, AZ1000. Based on the aircraft featured on the obverse, I've put the date of manufacture between 1982 and 1995. The F-15 left Luke in 1995 and didn't get the F-16 until 192.
Let's see if I can find another one to post...how about 4! All of the tokens below are from Libya. Once the U.S. pulled out, this base was turned over to the Libyan government. Well, when the terrorist set off the bomb in the night club in Germany, Reagan fired missiles at this base. Thought that was interesting. Wheelus AB, Libya; brass, 19mm, LY40a p. 197. Wheelus AB, Libya; brass, 21mm, LY40b p. 197. Wheelus AB, Libya; brass, 23mm LY40c p. 197. Cunningham lists this token at 22mm but mine is 23mm. Wheelus Field, Libya; brass, 18mm, LY70e. This token is recorded in Cunningham except he writes that it has a reverse. He noted the 5 cent token had a blank reverse issue but didn't record one for the 10 cent.
I hope we haven't overwhelmed the OP with all this. Exo is not really overwhelming @Collecting Nut Just more opportunity.
Yep! Bill is right and you can find/make so many really interesting collections. For me I'm in the Air Force so I focus on the Air Force tokens. Trying to collect from every base and station...something that I will never complete. Another thing about exonumia is that some pieces can be incredibly rare. Prices are - from what I can tell about my area - demand driven. You can get exonumia at great prices.
Yes it's aluminum and it's slightly larger than a quarter. And to everyone, thank you for the pics of yours, the answers and no, I'm not overwhelmed, at least not by coins or anything to do with them.