My Cool Old Stuff

Trade Tokens

The use of trade tokens dates back to the Roman Empire and have been used almost continually since then. They have been used in the United States since the late 18th century but reached maximum popularity 1880s to the 1920s but were widely used well into the 1940s.  

Tokens were issued by thousands of stores around the country to supplement a shortage of coinage issued by the government or to tie a customer to a store.  Today, in many cases, the only record of the existence of a store, or in some instances an entire town, can be trade tokens.Trade tokens are widely collected today, usually by the state, but in some instances by a category such as brothel tokens.

Dating tokens can be difficult.  Researching the business is one method,  when possible researching the company that minted the tokens is another.  A good rule of thumb is by the metal used in manufacture.  Aluminum tokens began coming into use about 1888 but did not become common until the second decade of the 20th century.  Earlier tokens were usually brass.

Above are two of my favorite tokens.  The town of Westby was originally located in North Dakota on the border of Montana. Established by Danish settlers in 1910 the town moved a little bit to the west in 1914 to its present location in eastern Montana.  The move was brought on by the  desire to be located next to the new SOO Railroad Line branch and to be in a state that allowed the sale of alcohol.