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Date: | Thu, 3 Feb 2011 15:52:51 -0700 |
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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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