Good morning, folks. Thanks in advance for any insight, everyone seems so knowledgeable on this site, much appreciated. I hope to get there someday, too, then I can do more than ask questions I have a bunch of tokens from different states/towns...most are from the 1960's, and although each one bears the name/depiction of a different event, they ALL commemorate something apparently meaningful to the particular state/town. They're golden colored, but I'm certain it's just a base metal. On the back of each coin, there is language along the lines of "Souvenir coin" or "token coin" and also "good for 50 cents in trade"..."redeemable at <insert town/office name>" I know, these coins aren't legal tender today, but I guess they were exchangeable for goods at specific locations back in the day, I don't know. I included the obverse/reverse of one of the tokens Just curious if anyone has any history about these types of souvenir/token coins in general, as it seems that a lot of towns made these during the 1960's to commemorate certain events, but I haven't really found a great deal about their origin. Did people back then actually use these as currency?
A smart business, knowing a centennial or sesquicentennial, etc., is coming, will have some "exchange" tokens minted. They make people come into your place of business, and after they expire, a smart business will still redeem them -- in essence, no different from a grocery coupon printed in the newspaper, "$3 off a $50 order," that sort of thing. Also, the Chamber of Commerce loves you for cooperating and participating, but make sure you do not toss the leftovers into the dumpster. They are a popular collectible -- I doubt that there's much home-grown numismatica available to the people of Freeport, New York, maybe some 1929 National banknotes, maybe a few CWT's.
First, welcome to the neighborhood! So many of the towns and cities across the country will sell medals to help offset the costs associated with staging an anniversary celebration. Sometimes, a local business will make a large contribution for the festivities, and in return, will provide tokens commonly called a "Good For" that offers a discount. One of the most common celebrations was the Bicentennial during the 70's. I have hundreds of medals from various states whose towns and cities participated in such festivities. Chris
Fairport. Freeport is on Long Island. Fairport? Fairport Village in New York Fairport is a village located in the town of Perinton which is part of Monroe County, New York. Fairport is a suburb 9 miles east of Rochester. It is also known as the "Crown Jewel of the Erie Canal".
These are now called Municipal Trade Tokens and are a popular collectible. Most had mintages between about 6 and 20 thousand and survive fairly well compared to other things of this type. They do seem to often be degraded though from poor storage. There are several catalogs for US and Canadian issues written by Jean Guy Cote.
Cote calls this "municipal trade currency". Most are issued by the chamber of commerce or the other civic organization but also by the town boards. Most are good as money during the specified time period but relatively few were actually spent but were instead saved as collectibles. They are listed by country and denomination by Cote. The Fairport token listed here has a fairly high valuation ($5) but I've found this one relatively common.
