A fascinating find from my early days:UPDATE

[MEinWV]

One of my all time best finds from way back in the '70s

A silver masonic coin. On one side a chalice, surrounded by cryptic letters.

The other side shows a keystone, with the name "Jewett C. Baker" inscribed at the top and "Dec. 17, 1914" at the bottom.

In the center circle is a cane and balls, and the stylized initials JCB. The circle is lined with smaller letters of which some I can't make out.

On the sides of the keystone are "Waltham" and "R.A.C."

I have never been able to find out anything about this coin or the gentleman, but I really love this rare (IMO) piece. I have seen many masonic coins but have yet to see anything close to this.

Maybe a Tnet'r can shed some light on this one.

UPDATE: I posted in Treasure Marks/Signs forum and quickly got the answers I needed. This is a Masonic Chapter membership Token. The design "Imitates a Jewish Shekel of year 2 of Simon Maccabaeus". R.A.C. stands for "Royal Arch Chapter".

I am now researching the gentleman whose name is inscribed on it. Through geneaology records, I have found a person in the area of Waltham that is a close fit in a timeline. It would be so cool to track down the actual owner of the coin, and maybe more about his life.

HH

 

[Glenn-RI]

Re: A fascinating find from my early days

Hi MEinWV,

There was a Jewett C. Baker that graduated from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in 1931. See page 3 of the attached link. Hopefully this helps.

http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/download/reports/rep1931.pdf

Glenn

 

[MEinWV]

Re: A fascinating find from my early days

Thanks Glenn! That gives me a bit of info I can check out. I may have to correspond with a Masonic org. to find out about his membership. I can only figure that there was a lodge or chapter in Waltham, Ma.

I also looked up R.A.C. in a site that shows abbreviations of clubs and organizations(including fraternal orders), and I can't find anything so far.

Thanks again!

 

[MEinWV]

Glenn, thanks again! Your response got the ball rolling for me to figure this coin out. I updated the original post!

Thanks for you interest and help!

HH

 

[silvercop]

thanks for the pics. i am a mason and have heard about those but have never seen one. thanks again

 

[allen]

great looking find !!