No silver dollar, but still interesting

[invent4hir]

All, I dug near a farm house built in 1921 that replaced a previous house that dated to at least 1869. When it first came out of the ground I thought it was a gaming token. Taking a closer look I saw 1908, a bust, and a lot of detail. Did some research, and sure enough in the 1910 and 1920 U.S. Census there was an E.C. Jobes in Greenville, Ohio who sold pianos. Told the property owner it was the first time I ever saw one like it and that I'd probably never dig another. Then I proceeded to find 5 more - go figure. While a silver dollar still eludes me - today I'll settle for these.

 

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[Professor of Engineering]

Awesome merchant token!

 

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[invent4hir]

Thats a great addition to your collection Well done

A2coins, thanks a bunch!

 

[invent4hir]

Awesome merchant token!

Professor, much obliged.

 

[crossfire631]

Nice finds those are pretty cool tokens!

 

[xcopperstax]

Super cool find congrats! Imagine that when that was made the American revolution was not so far in the past. One year before my grandparents were born. Just imagine a lot of things ha!

 

[invent4hir]

Ok, I think I finally sorted out who the piano store proprietor was:

Per rootsweb and family search, there were 2 males living in Darke County, Ohio both born the same year (1867), who went by the name Clarence Jobes. The first, who had a middle name Eugene, died in 1950. The other had a middle name Reed and died in 1934. Probably because of the confusion it caused, the first one often went by E. Clarence Jobes and Eugene Clarence Jobes (i.e. marriage record, 1920 & 1930 Census, death certificate, grave stone). This one was the proprietor of the piano store. By 1930 he was a watchmaker, probably because pianos didn’t sell well during the Great Depression.

 

[invent4hir]

Nice finds those are pretty cool tokens!

crossfire631, thanks and have a Happy 4th!

 

[invent4hir]

Super cool find congrats! Imagine that when that was made the American revolution was not so far in the past. One year before my grandparents were born. Just imagine a lot of things ha!

xcopperstax, thanks for the congrats! So much has happened in the 111 years since these were made. Too much to ponder on this glorious 4th of July.

 

[kingvegan]

I don't believe you, but that is because I am jealous. Great finds, you should gold plate one and wear it on a chain. I would.

 

[mddavis3]

Awesome token!

 

[invent4hir]

I don't believe you, but that is because I am jealous. Great finds, you should gold plate one and wear it on a chain. I would.

kingvegan, hmm never thought about gold plating one and wearing it around my neck. What a hoot!

 

[invent4hir]

Awesome token!

mddavis3, your Awesome for noticing!

 

[invent4hir]

So here is my leading theory on how this once-in-a-lifetime find times 6 made its way from Greenville, Ohio to the property: A lady who resided in the home from 1954 to 1961, received the trade coins from E.C. Jobes years before and gave it to her sons to play with, who later lost them in the yard. Turns out the lady's mother was a first cousin to E.C. Jobes. And while the former property owner doesn’t recall receiving the coins, her younger sister recalls visiting the E.C.'s jewelry store with her mom in the mid-1940s, where she received a pair of hair barrettes as a gift from E.C. By the 1950s E.C. had been out of the piano business for decades, and thus the trade coins were nothing more than a novelty – but could easily be substituted for play money. One possible reason the former property owner is unable to recall receiving the trade coins 70 or more years ago could be that they weren’t significant enough to be memorable. Other theories were considered, but the family connection makes this theory the most likely.

Remember every artifact has a story if we’re willing to listen.

 

[Tuberale]

Cool tokens. How odd that you found 6 of these in the same day. Is that a record? Has anyone else come across one of these?

 

[Jarl]

Super cool find...it looks great and has a story to tell...

 

[secondstar]

Nice finds, great piece of local history!

 

[Trezurehunter]

Very nice. I'd take 6 of those tokens.

 

[fistfulladirt]

Cool tokens. How odd that you found 6 of these in the same day. Is that a record? Has anyone else come across one of these?

Dug one similar a couple years ago. Obverse the same but different merchant. From a ballfield.

 

[fistfulladirt]

Congrats on the tokens iv4.

 

[A2coins]

Tokens are on the top of my wish list that's really cool history there. Well done. Tommy