1914 Trade Token

[Iskuli]

I found a strange coin today. I am still trying to clean it up. Right now it's in a potato. It is about the same size as a dime.

Here is what I can make out on the coin: Front side~J.F. Blakeley. Back side~In Trade Only, April 7, 1914, J-something (nole?/mole?)

Thanks for looking.

 

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[PBK]

It appears to be an Ingle System token. The Ingle System was a method of bookkeeping which allowed merchants to treat customers' credit purchases the same as cash transactions. If you got $10 credit, you were given $10 in tokens of various denominations, to be "spent" in that store only. There were 1¢, 5¢, 10¢, 25¢, 50¢, $1, and $5 Ingle tokens. The Ingle System was introduced in 1908, and the company went out of business in 1919, at which time it was succeeded by the Insurance Credit System. J. F. Blakely does not appear to be among the merchants listed in Lloyd E. Wagaman's book, Ingle System Scrip .

 

[idahotokens]

This 1¢ J. F. Blakeley token is from Fort Worth, TX. PBK is correct about the Ingle origin.
John in ID

 

[Iskuli]

Thanks so much for your help.

 

[CraigT]

put some hydrogen peroxide in a shot glass....heat for 17 seconds or until it boils..... then drop your token in the shot glass and watch it bubble...this should clean it.....repeat the process.....you can keep reheating the peroxide until it loses its fiz....then discard it and use fresh stuff from the container

 

[Iskuli]

Great! I will try that. Can I do that with all coins and jewelry or just tokens and pennies?