trade token

[duffytrash]

found this yest in a tin of old button in a abandoned house that was falling down.....

 

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[idahotokens]

Duffy - help us out here! What does the obverse of the token say? I can only make out a couple of letters on it.
John in the Great 208

 

[duffytrash]

it sez point rock.....bobble goes thru the hole....

 

[SilverForBrains]

for the record, I absolutely love looking through tins full of random coin sized objects - never know what you'll stumble across. When my grandfather passed, I looked through every single junk drawer and coffee tin he had, full of stuff from the 30s to the 50s. not one old coin. I'm convinced he has a secret coin collection stashed somewhere none of us know about.

Wish I could help ya out with the token, never seen one like that before

 

[duffytrash]

thanks....yup i got some of the buttons ready for the final cleaning.....

 

[idahotokens]

Okay - thanks for that much better pic! It actually says BOBO & VALE / POINT ROCK / O and, according to Lipscomb's Ohio Merchant Tokens book, is from a store ca. 1909-14 in the little Meigs County, OH town of Pointrock, on state highway 689. You can pull up the location on Mapquest. I'll do a little more checking to see what I can find - like what kind of store. I presume it was a general store since there are also 25¢ and 50¢ denominations known and it does say "in merchandise".
John in the Great 208

 

[idahotokens]

Duffy--the 1910 Census for Columbia Township of Meigs County says that at "Point Rock & Radcliff Road" or "Point Rock & Albany" (I can't tell which they meant since the mark dividing the two locations goes right between these two) Frank T. Vale and Lovina Bobo were living. Frank, age 31, was shown as a "Merchant - Dry Goods, etc." and Lovina, age 42, was shown as a "Clerk - Dry Goods Store". They were both shown as single.

Now, backing up to the 1900 Census for that same township, Frank T. Vale was living with his parents and sister. He was shown as a "salesman" and his father, Arthur P. Vale was shown as a "store keeper". In the previous two households counted is the family of Francis M. & Sarah A. Bobo, including their daughter Lovina. Francis is shown as a "farmer" and Lovina is shown as a "school teacher".

From all of this, I can't tell whether Francis or his daughter Lovina was the Bobo partner in the store, or whether it was Arthur or Frank Vale who was the other partner. There is definitely a story there, but the clouds of time have obscured it to me...

John in the Great 208

 

[duffytrash]

that is awesome information...im about 2 hours up river from meigs county......

 

[HighTone]

Awesome find Duffy..I love tokens so much history

 

[idahotokens]

Why the hole? That is one of the mysteries of the token-collecting hobby. The hole obviously isn't one that was placed there at the token factory. Those types, called "as made", are almost always seen with the hole in the center, although it may be round or any of a number of other shapes. Many of these holed tokens were designed such that they would work in slot machines and not in vending machines or pay telephones (remember those?). A feeler in the acceptor mechanism would either go through the hole or not. Other "holed as made" tokens were made that way so that there was a tactile way to differentiate different denominations used in the same business. Similarly, the shape of the token itself, round, octagonal, scalloped, etc., was often used to differentiate the denominations. Lighting was not the best in the places where tokens were used - especially in bars and cigar stores - and it was important that a 5¢ token not be taken as payment for a 25¢ item.

But the tokens, like this one, that are holed after they were made, have a lot of differing explanations. Most are not centered, and examples are known where the holes were expertly done with a drill, crudely done with a drill, punched through with a nail, large, small, etc. Here's some reasons for putting a hole in a token:

To indicate a change of ownership of a business. If Bobo and Vale terminate their partnership with Bobo buying Vale's interest. At that time, all outstanding tokens are debts of the partnership. Since some of those tokens will be brought in for redemption, the partners agree to put holes in all the tokens they have on hand and for every 10¢ token that comes in unholed, Vale would pay Bobo 5¢ for it and they would then put a hole in it.

Another reason might be similar, but the hole would be placed to obliterate Vale's name - this one is sort of like that.

In some cases people drilled a hole in a token to hang it on a necklace. I have seen tokens that were holed to be used with nails to hold down roofing material. Some pool halls had nails in the wall where the stakes in games were placed while the game was played. Some pool halls foresaw this use and had their tokens made with holes, but if they didn't, somebody drilled them.

But, finally, a high percentage of the holes put in tokens were made by people just screwing around. No real reason, just something that was done.

John in the Great 208

 

[duffytrash]

great info....