Trade Token

[Mayo South Elgin]

A couple days ago I was out hunting an area Lowbatts had picked up some goodies - around the same area that we were in when we were visited by the loud and inquisitive Creole speaking person. Shortly after I started I was greeted by a couple nice guys from Medina, IL - Greg Warren and his brother in law - I think his name is Joe? They also had detectors in hand - Greg with a brand new Whites V3 I think it was, and his brother in law had a DXF. They searched for about an hour or so but didn't get anything other than clad.

I also got clad and junk from this revisit but there was one piece that I didn't know what it was until further soaking in lemon juice and then in red wine vinegar that I could finally read what was on it. It appears to be aluminum.

Smith Hotel Bar
Allison
&
O'Connor

and on the reverse
Good For
5c
In Trade

Unfortunately someone had pounded a nail right through the center of it, but still a pretty cool find. I've looked on the web for any info related to it but have not come up with anything other than a listing for a couple of similar ones but no photos.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

DR.ÖTEK Metal Detector, Waterproof Gold Detector, Pinpoint & Terrain Modes, Professional Metal Detector - Grab it through Amazon!

[p2c]

Awesome Job!
I think trade tokens are real cool finds, even if they have been pierced with a nail. Glad you didn't run into any Rastafarians this time.

 

[treasurefiend]

Sweet find!!! I would rather find a trade token over a silver any day of the week!!!

 

[justdigging50]

Cool Token! Hope you find some info on it.

 

[Mackaydon]

I noted one token with the same wording referenced to Peoria.
A Smith Hotel token is associated with the name Allison here:
http://www.louisiana-trade-tokens.com/trade-tokens/illinois.html
(Scroll down to Peoria)
You may also wish to contact that site for more information.

 

[watercolor]

Sweet token Mayo! That was probably nailed to some wall in a bar for good luck

 

[Lowbatts]

I've pulled 3 good for 5¢ tokens out of that park over the years, none for a long while though. I've gotta quit taking you to my hunted out sites....

 

[dirtyJohn]

Those kind of finds are the best in my opinion. It's the history that attracts so many to this hobby not the money as some people think.
HH
John

 

[Dirt fishing Wolf]

Great find Mayo. Must have looked bad before you put the juice to it if you couldn't read it after you dug it?

 

[kimsdad]

I've pulled 3 good for 5¢ tokens out of that park over the years, none for a long while though. I've gotta quit taking you to my hunted out sites....

Great find, Mayo!!!

That's a cool piece of history!

 

[Mayo South Elgin]

Thanks for the replies guys.
Yes, it had a lot of mineral crud on it and with the exception of the word HOTEL, not much else was visible when pulled from the ground. Since it was aluminum, I figured lemon juice and red wine vinegar wouldn't hurt the token but would gradually dissolve the minerals. It worked pretty good but I scrubbed it pretty hard with a nylon bristle brush too.

The link mentioned above (http://www.louisiana-trade-tokens.com/trade-tokens/illinois.html) was the only reference I could find to it as well. So, based on that, I'll claim it's extremely rare and offer it on Ebay for a cool 10 G's.

In my dreams...

 

[Pocket Spill]

Nice token and nice job of cleaning. I find those tokens are hard to clean given it is like cleaning a corroded zinc lincoln.