Merchant token.

[satellite]

Sorry for the poor quality pic. The token was just taken out of it's olive oil bath for the shot. Posted under "Today's Finds" is the original post. Any more information on this would be great.


http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,64743.0.html

Happy Hunting!

 

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[idahotokens]

Sat--

The token (for those who didn't go look) is from J. S. Hagins of Plano, Texas. That is a nice oldie! In answer to your question, no, most token-using businesses had them made up in the various denominations they needed. I suppose the denomination could have been punched in by the business, but that is not usually the case. 5¢ was the typical price for a beer, so that denomination was in common use. The token is not listed in the TX books - there is a series of 4 of them dated from 1973-1993, and I understand there is some effort afoot to put out an updated and inclusive one.

James S. Hagins was a bartender in 1900, but I can't tell from the census whether he was employed by some saloon-keeper or whether he was the proprietor. My guess is that the token dates from 1890-1900, but he eluded the census-taker in 1900 and the 1890 census no longer exists.

John in ID