Ghost Town Pickins, Cool Token...No Jokin' !

[Subterranean]

Two buddies and I detected a permission on some farm land along Route 66 where a little town once stood. We all found goodies, and I was pleased to scrounge these. Still trying to pin down the cool aluminum token, closest I can find would be in Buffalo, Illinois. Any info welcomed! Thanks for looking, get out and detect if you can. Happy Hunting! Sub

 

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[mddavis3]

Nice token and IH penny!

 

[Digger RJ]

Nice!!! Congrats!!!

 

[ToddsPoint]

Buffalo is only a few miles east of old Rt.66. I don't know if they have a Wells St. or not. Gary

 

[Red-Coat]

Buffalo is only a few miles east of old Rt.66. I don't know if they have a Wells St. or not. Gary

They do... and it's South Wells St, as on the token, but from Google Maps it doesn't look to be a very promising area for the token unless what once there has been completely demolished and not redeveloped with any urban character.

Just a thought, but the token doesn't necessarily have to be from the immediate vicinity does it? There are a number of catalogued 'sandwich shop' tokens of a similar nature with addresses on both North Wells St and South Wells St. They aren't all attributed, but several of them track to known addresses for establishments in Chicago from the 1940s and 1950s. For example, one of them tracks to the 111 Buffet, listed as a restaurant at 111 South Wells St in the 1945 Chicago phone book.

If these are Chicago tokens then both North and South Wells seem to have been a centre for large numbers of casual eateries, take-out and grocery stores, as well as saloons and bars too in the pre and post prohibition eras.

 

[Subterranean]

They do... and it's South Wells St, as on the token, but from Google Maps it doesn't look to be a very promising area for the token unless what once there has been completely demolished and not redeveloped with any urban character.

Just a thought, but the token doesn't necessarily have to be from the immediate vicinity does it? There are a number of catalogued 'sandwich shop' tokens of a similar nature with addresses on both North Wells St and South Wells St. They aren't all attributed, but several of them track to known addresses for establishments in Chicago from the 1940s and 1950s. For example, one of them tracks to the 111 Buffet, listed as a restaurant at 111 South Wells St in the 1945 Chicago phone book.

If these are Chicago tokens then both North and South Wells seem to have been a centre for large numbers of casual eateries, take-out and grocery stores, as well as saloons and bars too in the pre and post prohibition eras.

Thanks Red-Coat. The demolished hotel site where I found the token is right on (literally a few yards from) the original Route 66, (now route 266) which is the famous LA to Chicago highway of the mid 1900's. Makes sense that this would be a Chicago token. Cheers, Sub

 

[washingtonian]

I love old tokens like that. So awesome!! Congrats on a super cool, local find.