bill

I'm about ready to sell my election token collection. I've finished imaging the pieces and put together a catalog on Flickr. Next is to draft an article for publication and say good by to some pieces that I had for over thirty years. Time to move on to other collecting topics. I'll still retain a few pieces to continue to represent the interest in my own collection, but another collector is interested in the collection intact. Time for someone else to enjoy it. The photo catalog can be viewed on Flickr. Click on the Slideshow link in the upper right hand corner and let it run.

I've missed a few tokens recently on Ebay, but I did manage to snag this National Guard Encampment Badge from 1911:

Welcome Mark. I look forward to corresponding with you about the medal series. Trading is a great idea after you have fulfilled the time (30 days) and post requirements (25) for the site. That helps everyone assure themselves that they are corresponding with a serious collector. It doesn't take long and we've got some great converstions going.

There are 21 missions and I know at least 11 different medals were struck, but it is possible there are 21 total. I have 7 different so far.

Two new medals in bronze: Mission San Jose Mission San Gabriel Each reverse features an artifact that distinguishes the mission. The San Gabriel piece shows on panel in the stations of the cross painted by the Indian neophytes.

Are there names? Probably. I call the top half the pin bar (or name plate if there is a place for a name) and the bottom half the body. I'm sure there are formal names. Now I'm going to have to take a look this weekend.

My first genuinely new item (to me) purcahsed since I published my article:

Pond 67 Bronze, 35mm Dieges and Clust, New York about 1000 struck Badge worn at the special session of the Massachusetts General Court to celebrate the Tercentenary. Both the Senate and the House met in session with the governor, state Supreme Court justices, and special guests. The name badge and bar presenting the person's affiliation have been removed from the ribbon at some point in the past.

A recently acquired pinback, not in Pond.

Nine years later, but it kind of goes with the theme of the Boston badge: 1957 Annual Convention in Philadelphia Designed by Julius Windner and Howard A. Davidson Manufactured by August C. Frank & Co., Philadelphia Mintage: 1,122 plus 25 in silver.

1948 Annual Convention in Boston Designed by Henry Schuhmacher Manufactured by Whitehead & Hoag Co.n Newark, N.J. Mintage: approximately 975 A related convention token:

Another Gallery Mint token, this one for the 1995 J.T. Stanton campaign for the ANA Board. The piece pictured here has the Type 2 reverse, the actual release revers. An earlier version proved unworkable. 1,000 were struck in brass and 500 in copper. How can you tell them apart? Always somewhat of a mystery to me when I see pieces labelled copper or brass. In this instance, the photograph on the obverse is from a brass token, the photograph of the reverse is from a copper token. Does that help?

The cotton liner and medals notes are missing from the box. A paper towel was folded up and placed in the box to keep the medal secure. I'm assuming it is the source of the toning. Its since been replaced with an appropriate archival sleeve.

The bean pot is still to come, but first the medal portion of the 1942 badge (ribbon and nameplate lacking): May 2011, I added the full badge to my collection.

The 1999 Exhibitor and Judge's medal was limited to 150 and struck silver. The Minerva head was modeled after the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition $50 gold piece. This particular piece came from the Gallery Mint and could have been a prototype.

I wasn't going to pursue this series in silver as I didn't want to pay the price they normally bring, but I decided to pick them up if reasonable. The one pictured here was reasonable and I figured I needed to have one monster toned silver piece in my collection. A challenge to photograph, but this captures some of what it feels like in hand:

I collect the first few emperors, Augustus to Nero, Roman Republican coins that served as prototypes for Gallic Celtic pieces, the Gallic Celtic coins, and Celt-Iberian. That is enough range of historic and interesting designs to keep me going.

I've got a Boston bean pot still to image and a run of another 7 plus a couple of more to post in the coming weeks. Good fun, thanks for getting me hooked Art.

Chicago 1956 Centennial of the small cent Designed by Vernon Sheldon. Manufactured by Louis J. Imber Co., Chicago Gilt: 2000 Silver 5

The next step is to start noting the stylistic similarities and differences. Some are obvious, some will take a little more work. I almost of a large enough sample to start grouping the medals and beginning to identify the different manufacturers.

Cool!

Possibly a rare store card from Chicago. Only one other piece in my collection is a local small business token:

I've got two more to go after this one in the current round of purchases. Fortunately, they are small and don't take up much space. The image pictured here is from the 1909 Hudson-Fulton celebration.

A few more acquisitions. The first is from Buffalo, New York for Old Home Week, September 1-7, 1907:

Wow, this group presents a difficult choice. The cream did rise to the top in the voting rounds.