Vickers Token

[NumisMattic2200]

Does anyone have information on how this Vickers token may have been used? Age?

 

Vickers was a company started in about 1838 in Sheffield as a steel foundry (Sheffield was probably the world's most famous city for steel and is nicknamed "The steel city") and become one of the world's greatest manufacturers of munitions and weaponry.

 

 

[constanius]

Vickers became Vickers Ltd in 1911 and kept that name till 1927. So between those two dates. Might have been a workers identity token, perhaps had to show to collect wages, or produce when booking a tool out from the store or show when entering the factory etc.

 

 

From off the web here is a later token after their name changed yet again Vickers Armstrong Weybridge, Time check

LINK to coinsandtokens

[NumisMattic2200]

Hmm that one seems a lot nicer but for the piercing - I wonder what mine's worth anyway...might ask my pal Howard Simmons.

[constanius]

For what it's worth, I prefer yours. Yours looks to have a much thicker planchet and much better engraving.

[NumisMattic2200]

Annoying stain - have put it to Howard

[De Orc]

The hole is there so that the tally could be placed on a hook

[NumisMattic2200]

The ones with holes in them are for tools, apparently.

[Scottishmoney]

It looks like a tool check to me, the worker would give the check to someone in the tool room who would give them the tool they wanted, the check was put on a board with that tool's name on a peg. This eliminated, or rather was supposed to eliminate the disappearance of tools in a factory.

[thedeadpoint]

Agree with all the suggestions above.

[NumisMattic2200]

The ones with holes in them are for tools, apparently.

Scots-Dosh

[Vickers workers daughter]

On 6/10/2009 at 3:33 PM, NumisMattic2200 said:

The ones with holes in them are for tools, apparently.

 

[Vickers workers daughter]

My father worked there from 1954 to 1987 and has these in his possession. He says they were used to log tools in and out. As he has a few with the same number this makes more sense than logging in workers. 

[Circus]

Yes that is correct they are tool checks, each person was assigned a number and issued 6 to 10 checks. Having worked in the tool crib in high school. the check was placed on a nailin the spot were the tool normally was. Since they each had a unique number assigned to only one person. The could also be used as in/out, tags. Generally they were  used in dangerous environments  foundries,smelters, mines, quarries, any place that could and often did result in death. They were often referred to as body tags by the workers.