Is there any way to tell the age of these military tokens

[dirtyJohn]

I found these detecting on a old military base that dates back to the late 1800's. I know they're bi-metallic tokens. I don't know what they made the centers out of, but they are long gone. Is there anyway to tell how old they are? Any replies are greatly appreciated. P.S. Just to give you an idea of size the small one is the exact size of a quarter on it's outer edge.

 

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[idahotokens]

DJ - these bimetallic tokens were patented in July of 1899, according to the legend seen on many of them. However, David Schenkman in his book, Bimetallic Trade Tokens of the United States, shows that the actual patent date was 12 Sep 1899. He theorizes that the S. D. Childs Company of Chicago made the dies with the July date in anticipation of the patent.

There are four different Post Exchanges that he lists in his catalog - Fort Sheridan, IL, Fort Hamilton, NY, Madison Barracks, NY, and Fort Adams, RI. The (missing on yours) aluminum center piece stated both the location and the denomination. From the photos he has, I would venture to say that yours is from Fort Sheridan, IL.

John in ID

 

[idahotokens]

I guess I should state that even though the patent date is 1898, that doesn't mean that is the date of them. Bimetallic tokens were being made by Childs well into the 1920s, even though their patent had expired. They were somewhat more expensive than single-metal tokens, and were generally not what businesses ordered, especially during slow economic times.
John in ID

 

[WYO1]

They can be valuable. I got over $300 for post exchange token on ebay. t was from Ft Robinson Nebraska.

 

[dirtyJohn]

Wow! that was a quick response. T-Net is great and thank you for your response. Much appreciated.