Help please. Found in Firebaugh Ca. Posted it here a few years back with no luck so I'm trying it again. On one side it has (5°°) and on the other it has (in trade) any info would be helpful thank you. View attachment 549096View attachment 549097
in trade token
- Thread starter dnlmadrid
- Start date
idahotokens
Bronze Member
Tokens of this sort have been discussed in the "tokens & tags" forum over the past year. Yours is rather unusual for a $5 denomination to be ~21mm, as most were larger. These generic tokens had many uses, but mainly were used by general stores who did not opt to have their tokens personalized with business name, town, and state. They may have been able to get these more cheaply, but the downside was that if their neighboring business also used them, then they could be interchanged between the businesses. Sometimes, a business in an area where there was a shortage of change would order their personalized tokens, but be in need of tokens immediately, so they would use these generic tokens until their order arrived. General stores bought produce from the locals and often used tokens to pay for the goods. The tokens, in turn, could be spent for staples later at the store.
Another use for this type of generic token would be in gambling in pool halls, card rooms, etc. The thought was that if the law raided the place, these might be thought of as poker chips, just a method to keep track of a friendly game, rather than worth actual money. Most sheriffs were bright enough to see through that ruse.
Since this $5 piece is small, it might have been used as a counter for the operator of a slot machine route. The slot machines would take nickels and give out 5¢ tokens when a jackpot was paid. The tokens might be then put back into the machine, so the money box would have a mix of tokens and cash. When the machine route operator would come around to service and empty the machines, he might use this type of token to mark every hundred tokens when calculating the take and figuring how much money to give "the house".
We will probably never know the exact use of this particular token...
John in ID
Another use for this type of generic token would be in gambling in pool halls, card rooms, etc. The thought was that if the law raided the place, these might be thought of as poker chips, just a method to keep track of a friendly game, rather than worth actual money. Most sheriffs were bright enough to see through that ruse.
Since this $5 piece is small, it might have been used as a counter for the operator of a slot machine route. The slot machines would take nickels and give out 5¢ tokens when a jackpot was paid. The tokens might be then put back into the machine, so the money box would have a mix of tokens and cash. When the machine route operator would come around to service and empty the machines, he might use this type of token to mark every hundred tokens when calculating the take and figuring how much money to give "the house".
We will probably never know the exact use of this particular token...
John in ID
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