Merriam & Co. Toad Embossing Press. Boston, MA (1863)
DCW
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May I present to you all a great piece of Americana and a fairly recent acquisition. I just got around to taking some photos:
This is the famous Toad Embossing Press manufactured by Merriam & Co. of Boston circa 1863 and the subject of one of Merriam's most well known Civil War tokens. My own example is pictured below. Extremely rare to find one for sale as they simply did not survive over the years. I was fortunate to locate this one and add it to my growing collection of his work.
Joseph H. Merriam was the foremost diesinker in Boston during the American Civil War. He produced a large portfolio of tokens and medals of exceptional quality during this time period, but his output must have been relatively small because today all of his pieces are scarce.
His main source of income most certainly was in producing stencils and embossing presses like the example above. In the late 19th Century, everyone had one of these presses. It would have been used to emboss a business seal with address onto paper or envelope, perhaps a receipt or other document relating to business.
1863 Good For A Scent/ Merriam & Co. 19 Brattle Sq. Boston MA115D-2b
This token represents everything I love about the work of Joseph H. Merriam. Extreme rarity, artistry, and eye appeal. Usually encountered (when offered at all) in well circulated/damaged condition, this piece has been highly preserved over the last century and a half. I have never seen its equal.
Over the years, this token took on the misnomer of "Salamander Reverse," perhaps because on circulated specimens the toad appeared to have a tail. It has been affectionately described as a "spring loaded lizard with a pancake on its head," but the pictures of the press should leave little doubt as to what it really depicts.
This is one of my favorite tokens of all time, and finally adding the embossing press to the collection has been a definite highlight.
Thanks for looking!
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
Comments
Nice! A bit of whimsy amidst the anger.
So cool! Thanks for sharing!
Latin American Collection
Great info on the company and the Toad Press.
Congrats on picking up the Toad Press as it makes a great companion piece to the coin.
Donato
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Toadally awesome.
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That's fantastic! I love it! Doesn't Bill Jones have one of those too? (I see from the link posted farther down the thread that Bill has a Lion Press, but a photo of the toad token and press are in the thread he started)
Awesome piece. It's a great match for your token. I can see how the token can be interpreted to be a salamander due to the hind legs appearing small. Great to see it in the press to clear this up. Can you read what text yours is designed to emboss?
And yes, Bill does have a press, but his is a lion. He posted it here just over 4 years ago. Of note, @Quarternut posted a patent of the lion press by Robert B. Carsley of Boston. His speculation is that some of the presses were not made by Merriam but were used in his advertising tokens. The toad press may have been made by Merriam as it doesn't seem to appear in any of Carsley's patent filings.
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/912033/a-product-from-a-merchant-who-issued-and-made-civil-war-tokens
The Lion Press was manufactured by Merriam. He either acquired the patent from Carsley, or he was a licensed to make them. There is plenty of advertising from the old newspapers on which appear his many presses; among them the lion, toad, eagle, and something called the "omega" which remains a mystery to this day.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
Here are Carsley's patents showing the lion and buffalo presses. I wonder what kind of relationship they had.
Here is an ad indicating Merriam manufactured the Toad and Omega presses. This is from @sealcollector's website:
http://norcalseals.weebly.com/merriam-eagle-press-1865.html
Here is some advertising for both the Toad and the Lion presses.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
Beat you to it
I also posted a link to a Lion Press ad on Bill's thread to wrap up a discussion there.
It's good to see the ads. I like how he had pictures of the Eagle press in many of his ads. Does he use pictures of the toad or other presses in his ads?
Sweet, I like it, congratulations !!!
Great! Something else I am going to look for at the flea market. Peace Roy
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Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
Good stuff. History, tokens. Very interesting write-up. Thanks for sharing!
Nice, very nice !
The toad press is remarkably cool. The toad token is remarkably cool. The combination of the two??? Just simply outstanding. What a great duo. Each one makes the other better!!
I have to say there are some pretty great condition Merriam Good for a Scent tokens like @DCW's OP, much better than I've seen for other CWT designs. It's a treat to see these tokens in such great condition.
Wow, that is fantastic!!! What an outstanding piece.....I love it
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Well, for the Good for a Scent tokens with Merriam's address on the reverse I agree with you. They are out there in mint state, because they were collected even 150 years ago.
This is not the case for any others. Typical condition for the Toad Press Token is VF and below. Many are damaged.
And we are talking about a piece of which maybe 12-15 are believed to exist.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
Good to know on survivors @DCW.
For photos, it would be great if PCGS CoinFacts added tokens to their listings so we could see see and compare TrueViews. They have Alaska Rural Rehabilitation Corp tokens so one can hope
By the way, are the middle names of Joseph H. Merriam and Robert B. Carsley known?
Joseph Henry Merriam
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
I bought this "Toad Press" token at auction from an old New England collection a couple of decades ago.
That is a great embossing tool.... cool design... any pictures of the Omega design? I see all the others. Did not even find a picture when I did several internet searches. Cheers, RickO
@ricko
The Omega press has not been documented in either drawings or pictures. The old ads do not show a depiction, and the press itself has never turned up.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
@DCW....Well that is disappointing....One does not even know what to look for then...Using my very active imagination, an image of the Omega symbol as the press handle occurred to me.... Well... next run through the antique shops here will include looking for something like that...
Wow... would that be an amazing find...Cheers, RickO
Outstanding material you have there! I've always been a big fan of the "One Scent" token.
That is so cool! Congrats!
with the story being toad errr i mean told that is totally way cool, nice i like
That is very cool! Great find!
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Thank you all for the comments! One more bump for the weekend...and pride of ownership
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
And, I must say-that's the most reptilian toad I've ever seen. I'd LOVE to have one of those tokens, tho.