my first token and cuff links (i think)

[burglarifyoulike]

found my first token. i was very excited, it's something different. found near an old home site in WV. found htese cuff links in my parents field about 50 yards from one of the oldest homes in our area. was going through some dirst dug up by the state to move a telephone pole. there seems to be an insignia of some type nad maybe some letters around the top, but they are in such rough shape that i can't make it out. not sure how to clean, thought about ultrasonic cleaning but i'm thinking they may be too fragile. thanks for looking!

 

[BuckleBoy]

Okay - better late than never! At a recent meeting, I spoke with numismatic authority and author, Q. David Bowers, about this token. He had written a publication years ago called "A Tune for a Token" which cataloged nickelodeon tokens. He was not familiar with this one off the top of his head, but yesterday, when he returned home and was able to access his reference material, he pointed me to a listing in the new David Schenkman book, "West Virginia Merchant Tokens". In it, in the section for tokens from Morgantown is listed:
IN COMUNTZIS PIANO // GOOD FOR / 5¢ / IN TRADE 21mm Rd Br

And the statement, "During the teens and 1920s the Comuntzis Brothers ran a confectionery that, according to a local collector, was located at 368 High Street. During the early 1940s the business operated as Comuntzis Restaurant." So, this token was used to play the player piano in this business - that would have been in the earlier period of operation of this business as those machines went out of style and were replaced with other devices by the mid-1920s.

John in ID

Great information, and a Fantastic ID on this token! You really add a lot to this forum with your knowledge and eagerness to track down an ID of an item.


Cheers,


Buckles

 

[silvercop]