1901 token

[Banjoben]

Finally! we have some thawed ground! I got to go on the first hunts of the year on Thursday and Friday. This if the first outings with my new Fisher F2 that I got for Christmas aside from a couple of days at the end of December before winter really set in.
Thursday I went to the parking area of a ball field. I found exactly 1 dollar in clad coins, a couple of washers, a pair of bottle caps and some pull-tabs.
Friday I only had a half hour or so to play, so I decided to try my own yard. More clad coins, pull tabs, and the prize of the week! This token.
On the front it reads "Bishop Asbury" "Estab. the first Sunday school in the world 1786" and has a highly detailed portrait of the Bishop himself. On the reverse it reads "Tewntieth Century missionary thank offering" around the perimeter, thin inside that it reads "The entrance of thy word givith light" with the date 1901 and the Holy Bible in detail in the center.
There is a hole which I believe was drilled later as it goes through some of the words. It is the exact same diameter as a quarter, but a tad thicker. I'm guessing it is copper.
To date it is one of the oldest, most interesting things I have found, but I am working on lining up some historic sites, so I hope to change that soon.

 

[Mackaydon]

Interesting find.
Here's one for sale now:
Token Pendant Bishop Asbury 1901 Thank Offering Twentieth Centuy Missionary | eBay
Don....

 

[Mackaydon]

Notice in the Arizona Silver Belt (newspaper) from Globe, Arizona (Issue of April 4, 1901--same day as today, coincidentally !!) reads"
The St Paul's Methodist Episcopal Sunday School will give an Easterday exercise, next Sunday at 10 a. in. 'I he entertainment will be free. Contributions for missions. A medal souv-Iner will be given to each child making an offering of one dollar or more. The medal will bear the likeness of Bishop Asbury, the first American Methodist bishop, the man who organized the first Sunday school In America. " Perhaps this is the occasion of where the medal originated.
Don.....
Source:http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/42149425/

 

[DirtStalker]

Great token find

 

[Banjoben]

Notice in the Arizona Silver Belt (newspaper) from Globe, Arizona (Issue of April 4, 1901--same day as today, coincidentally !!) reads"
The St Paul's Methodist Episcopal Sunday School will give an Easterday exercise, next Sunday at 10 a. in. 'I he entertainment will be free. Contributions for missions. A medal souv-Iner will be given to each child making an offering of one dollar or more. The medal will bear the likeness of Bishop Asbury, the first American Methodist bishop, the man who organized the first Sunday school In America. " Perhaps this is the occasion of where the medal originated.
Don.....
Source:http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/42149425/

So it was the 1901 version of the piles of Oriental Trading trinkets they give out at Sunday school and Vacation Bible schools today. Interesting.
Even more interesting is the one on Ebay has a hole in it almost exactly like mine.