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Message:: [QUOTE="HandsomeToad, post: 596531, member: 12965"]I guess it's time to fill in those that don't know what the OP Token is. PennyGuy offered this in his answer: 1817 New York Park Theatre Token Patrons to the New York Park Theatre were given these tokens as a receipt of payment to gain entrance into the theatre. Then they would give them to the usher who would exchange it for a PAID token. It is listed in Russel Rulau’s catalog as number NY#41 and usually found in lower grades. Built at a cost of $30,000 on Chatham Street (now called Park Row), New York City's first world-class theatre attracted all levels of society, but developed a reputation for catering to its wealthier clientele. Over the proscenium was painted the Latin motto "Gnothi Seaution" -- "Know Thyself." The interior was redecorated in 1807and1809, with "patent" oil lamps replacing candlelight. The poor sat in the top gallery; benches in the pit (what we now call the orchestra section) were reserved for working class men, and wealthy patrons sat in four tiers of private boxes named for famous European playwrights. The largest box, called "Shakespeare," was usually reserved for critics and celebrities. The Park Theatre was out of fashion and facing hard times when a fire demolished it in 1848. This is currently the location of the main J&R Music World store. Currently the location is addressed as: 23 Park Row, New York, NY 10038. But this little token has an interesting numismatic history too: <a href="http://www.coins.nd.edu/ColCoin/ColCoinIntros/Mott.intro.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.coins.nd.edu/ColCoin/ColCoinIntros/Mott.intro.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.coins.nd.edu/ColCoin/ColCoinIntros/Mott.intro.html</a> Footnotes 1The only other datable pre 1820 New York City tokens are not merchant token and therefore would be unlikely to have a street address in any case. These include: a 1786 communion token of A.S.C. (Rulau-E NY 169); a 1799 communion token of the New York Associate Church (Rulau-E NY 622); two varieties of Park Theater admission tokens from 1817 (Rulau-E NY 41 and 41A) and a token dated 1818 that was made as a members badge for the Washington Market Chowder Club (Rulau-E NY 930). None of these carry a street address. But if you are interested in the shadier side of the Park Theater, read this interesting article: <a href="http://www.musicals101.com/bwaythhist1.htm" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.musicals101.com/bwaythhist1.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.musicals101.com/bwaythhist1.htm</a> So there we have it! It was a "ticket stub" to get into the theater and not much different than what you go through when you go to the movies today.  <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie8" alt=":D" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />  The question now is, for what section did it cover?  :whistle: Ribbit  <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> Ps: There's also an earlier token that's also attributed as a Park Theater Token: <a href="http://www.coinfacts.com/colonial_coins/new_york_theater_tokens/new_york_theatre_penny.htm" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.coinfacts.com/colonial_coins/new_york_theater_tokens/new_york_theatre_penny.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.coinfacts.com/colonial_coins/new_york_theater_tokens/new_york_theatre_penny.htm</a> Pps: Be sure to read the entire section about the Mott Token and remember, they didn't keep records like we do today so much of what occurred numismatically back then, wasn't recorded so a lot has to be deduced by other factors.  :goofer:  But that's a whole different can of worms.  :eating:[/QUOTE]

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