Short hunt! Retailers occupation token found

[Oldrvrrat57]

Never have found one of these before, is it some kind of tax token or what. Also recovered an 1853 large cent and about 3' from it was a 1953 wheatie. The piece that says Rome on it looks to have at one time been riveted to something, 3rd skeleton key in the last few weeks!

 

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[NorILdigcollector]

Nice set of finds!

 

[Mackaydon]

Great finds !!

1½ Mills - Retailers' Occupation Token, United States

Detailed information about the coin 1½ Mills, Retailers' Occupation Token (Illinois), United States, with pictures and collection and swap management: mintage, descriptions, metal, weight, size, value and other numismatic data

en.numista.com

Don in SoCal

 

[Mackaydon]

These sales tax tokens were fractional cent devices used to pay sales tax on very small purchases in many American states during the years of the Great Depression.
Don.....

 

[Digger RJ]

Never have found one of these before, is it some kind of tax token or what. Also recovered an 1853 large cent and about 3' from it was a 1953 wheatie. The piece that says Rome on it looks to have at one time been riveted to something, 3rd skeleton key in the last few weeks! View attachment 2072982

Very Cool!!! Congrats!!!

 

[river roamer]

Nice finds Congrats

 

[Gare]

NICE going You did well

 

[JohnnyMac]

Never have found one of these before, is it some kind of tax token or what. Also recovered an 1853 large cent and about 3' from it was a 1953 wheatie. The piece that says Rome on it looks to have at one time been riveted to something, 3rd skeleton key in the last few weeks! View attachment 2072982

Interesting

 

[Red-Coat]

Cool tax token.

When general sales taxes were introduced in the US from 1930 onwards (starting with Kentucky and Mississippi) there was no easy way for a retailer to levy the tax on small purchases. For example, you might buy something with a retail price of 10 cents on which the sales tax would be a fraction of a cent and had no way to pay it. The retailer would nevertheless still be liable to pay the tax to the government based on the total of his sales. If he sold a lot of small items, he effectively lost money on each of those small sales and it could soon mount up.

These tokens were the solution. They came in various values and yours is valued at “1.5 mill” (a “mill” is a thousandth of a dollar, or a tenth of a cent). So if, for example, you made a 10 cent purchase liable for sales tax in fractions of a cent, the retailer would ‘overcharge’ you at 11 cents and then refund the ‘overpayment’ in fractional cents with these tokens. He then wasn’t losing out on what he had to pay the government.

Not every state had (or needed) these tokens. About a dozen states issued them. In most states where they were issued, they were discontinued during WWII as a result of the additional complications of ration tokens and stamps.

 

[Oldrvrrat57]

Great finds !!

1½ Mills - Retailers' Occupation Token, United States

Detailed information about the coin 1½ Mills, Retailers' Occupation Token (Illinois), United States, with pictures and collection and swap management: mintage, descriptions, metal, weight, size, value and other numismatic data

en.numista.com

Great finds !!

1½ Mills - Retailers' Occupation Token, United States

Detailed information about the coin 1½ Mills, Retailers' Occupation Token (Illinois), United States, with pictures and collection and swap management: mintage, descriptions, metal, weight, size, value and other numismatic data

en.numista.com

Don in SoCal

Thumbs up! For taking the time to pass on this information .