Found my first flower style token. Good for 5c at bar. How to clean it?

[Gimmie The Loot]

Found my first flower style token! Good for 5c at bar but I can't read the name on top too well. Anyone know what years this style was used? How do you guys clean them to make them easier to read?

The back side does not appear to read anything. I think it wa sonly stamped on the one side.

 

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[idahotokens]

Nice token! I have been studying this type of token - I call them "P-38" because the ornament on the lower part of the obverse reminds me of an oncoming P-38 fighter plane. It has a circle with two wings, each having a propeller. Actually, it is just a stock ornament used by the manufacturer of the token that consists of a circle with two sylized fleur-de-lis on either side. At any rate, I theorize that this token was made by a Chicago or Milwaukee maker ca. 1890-1900 because most of the attributed ones have been shown to come from within a few hundred miles of those towns. However, some are known from as far away as Idaho.

Be very cautious cleaning tokens. They (and the collectors of them) are usually more forgiving than for cleaning coins, though. Start with a toothbrush and water. You might progress to boiling it for a bit in Hydrogen Peroxide, then toothbrushing it. Extreme cleaning would be to use the cleaner CLR for a minute.

I can read most of the letters on it - take a magnifying glass to it and see if you can do better than what I see: L. H. MEGAEL. This evening I will do some research on the name from a genealogy standpoint. Attributing these seem to be fairly tough, although the fact that the issuer was a saloon-keeper narrows the field down a bit.

In the token-collecting community, this shape is referred to as "S8" or having 8 sacallops.

John in ID

 

[Gimmie The Loot]

Nice token! I have been studying this type of token - I call them "P-38" because the ornament on the lower part of the obverse reminds me of an oncoming P-38 fighter plane. It has a circle with two wings, each having a propeller. Actually, it is just a stock ornament used by the manufacturer of the token that consists of a circle with two sylized fleur-de-lis on either side. At any rate, I theorize that this token was made by a Chicago or Milwaukee maker ca. 1890-1900 because most of the attributed ones have been shown to come from within a few hundred miles of those towns. However, some are known from as far away as Idaho.

Be very cautious cleaning tokens. They (and the collectors of them) are usually more forgiving than for cleaning coins, though. Start with a toothbrush and water. You might progress to boiling it for a bit in Hydrogen Peroxide, then toothbrushing it. Extreme cleaning would be to use the cleaner CLR for a minute.

I can read most of the letters on it - take a magnifying glass to it and see if you can do better than what I see: L. H. MEGAEL. This evening I will do some research on the name from a genealogy standpoint. Attributing these seem to be fairly tough, although the fact that the issuer was a saloon-keeper narrows the field down a bit.

In the token-collecting community, this shape is referred to as "S8" or having 8 sacallops.

John in ID

Thanks for the great info John! In case you do more research on it, the name looks to be "H. Meckel". Googling Meckel brings up some nasty gastrointestinal desease pages... made me a little queezy. But I think the first name might stand for Hearbert or Herbert.

Thanks!
Jason

 

[idahotokens]

Jason--well I spent a while looking for an H. Meckel, but haven't turned up anything real promising. I'd suggest posting the piece in the "unknown" section of www.tokencatalog.com and letting a lot of other eyes see it. If you do, put where you found it in the details.
John in ID

 

[AU24K]

John,
Are you registered at www.tokencatalog.com?
I am registered and have submitted many of my tokens. I'm Daddytopcat.

Best Wishes,
Scott

 

[idahotokens]

Scott--yep, I sure am. Also maverick editor for the Token and Medal Society. www.tokenandmedal.org
John in ID

 

[AU24K]

Scott--yep, I sure am. Also maverick editor for the Token and Medal Society. www.tokenandmedal.org
John in ID

So cool!
Glad to know someone on Richard's site!

Best Wishes,
Scott

PS. I posted many of my tokens quite awhile ago and even this past week I have received notification of updates and additional info on some tokens.
I'm hooked on the site!

 

[curbdiggercarl57]

Fantastic 8 scallop ya got there!
Carl

 

[Gimmie The Loot]

Fantastic 8 scallop ya got there!
Carl

Thanks Carl - I still haven't been able to turn up any info on old H. Meckel though. Must not have been a very happening bar!