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Date: | Thu, 3 Feb 2011 14:33:03 -0900 |
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If you go to eBay and search on "Good For 2 1/2 cts." (description
search) you will also see some examples (from St. Louis) used for
billiards. I have one of that denomination myself that was used in the
company store of a reindeer processing operation in Alaska. I suspect
that the "S.H." is the key. My best guess would be that it was
associated with company store of the mine.
Dave
-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Cathy Spude
Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2011 1:53 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Tax Token Question
Hi All:
It is my opinion that you all might be going down the wrong path here. A
2-1/2 cent token makes much more sense in a saloon than in a brothel or
a
bordello. Beer was traditionally five cents, as was a cigar, whereas a
trick
was usually four bits up to a dollar depending on the class of the place
(much more, of course for the high spenders). A 2-1/2 cent token would
get a
man in the door of a saloon on the promise of half a beer or half a
cigar,
but a twentieth of a trick? Hmmmm...... Well, I suppose you could save
them
up......
I've worked with both brothel and saloon collections (see my article in
the
2005 January issue of HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY) and I've seen lots of
5-cent
and 25-cent tokens in saloon collections in the 20th century; the
brothel
collections tend to have higher value tokens, 25 cents, 50 cents, even a
dollar.
The Sandpoint Collection would indeed be a good comparative collection,
but
my guess is that the 2-1/2 cent tokens would have been issued by the
saloons, not the brothels.
For what it is worth .....
Catherine Holder Spude, PhD
7 Avenida Vista Grande #145
Santa Fe, NM 87508
505-466-1476 home
505-913-1326 cell
"Life is not tried, it is merely survived if you are standing outside
the
fire," Jenny Yates and Garth Brooks.
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