Civil war token Merriam & Co. Seals Boston MA 115D-3B
DCW
Posts: 7,541 ✭✭✭✭✭
Just got the grade back on this beautiful piece:
1863 Merriam & Co Seals MA115D-3b PCGS MS62
Bought this a couple of years ago from Bill Jones, who I believe purchased it from Steve Tanenbaum. This features the very rare reverse die, advertising Merriam's Stencil business at 19 Brattle Square in Boston. I showed this to Steve Hayden at the ANA convention, and he stated it was the nicest one he could recall.
Thanks for looking.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
15
Comments
You are the Merriam man!
Latin American Collection
That sure is nice. Thanks for posting.
Ooooo Look at the puppers!!!
Collector of randomness. Photographer at PCGS. Lover of Harry Potter.
Wow, very nice !!!
Great CWT, nice provenance as well
Holy cow, that's a great example by way of some fine names in numismatics.
Great piece and provenance!! Thank you for posting.
ANA-LM, CWTS-LM, NBS, TAMS, ANS
This always strikes me as odd when I see this token, because Brattle Square is in Cambridge (about 200' west of Harvard Square), not Boston. Cambridge was incorporated as a city in 1846, but perhaps in 1863 people still thought of it as being Boston.
Certainly part of the Boston metro area, though.
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Thanks to @DCW I see why I didn't find it in Boston anymore!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brattle_Street_(Boston)
This refers to the section of Boston comprising Brattle St. It's not the one in Cambridge. Must have been known as Brattle Square in those days, because it is in the Boston Directories as such
It no longer exists today, as they razed the whole area to make room for Government Center.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
Very nice and Wonderfull grade!. Plus sweet true views
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CoinsAreFun Toned Silver Eagle Proof Album
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Gallery Mint Museum, Ron Landis& Joe Rust, The beginnings of the Golden Dollar
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More CoinsAreFun Pictorials NGC
Very nice! Lovely even toning like that is hard to come by.
I love it
Steve
Great piece! Thanks for posting it. You're building a great collection. Do you have your collection assembled anywhere, like in a Registry Set?
@BillJones, can you confirm if this is an ex-Steve Tanenbaum piece per the post above?
Yes, I used to own it. The buyer “wore me down.” If I had not moved from New England to Florida, I would have kept it. Steve Tanenbaum had a few examples of this variety, but this was only one he offered at the time that was not damaged. At one time I had all three of the Merriam & Co. tokens.
That is a great piece.... a popular design.... I think we have seen more images of that here on the forum than pieces that still exist...Cheers, RickO
Brattle Street, which existed from 1694 to 1962, was a street in Boston, Massachusetts located on the current site of City Hall Plaza, at Government Center
In 1921, the first Radio Shack store opened at 46 Brattle Street.
Brattle St - 1920
Brattle St - 1775
Successful transactions with : MICHAELDIXON, Manorcourtman, Bochiman, bolivarshagnasty, AUandAG, onlyroosies, chumley, Weiss, jdimmick, BAJJERFAN, gene1978, TJM965, Smittys, GRANDAM, JTHawaii, mainejoe, softparade, derryb, Ricko
Bad transactions with : nobody to date
Well, there are a few different varieties for the Good for a Scent token, with some off metals included. Chances are the images you've seen posted here are of the more common Jos. H. Merriam 18 Brattle Sq reverse.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
At least you know it ended up in a good home!
Great looking piece, definitely not a dog....
It sure did. I thank @BillJones for parting with it, and enduring my relentless offers! It is one of the highlights to my Merriam Collection.
As a side note, Steve Tanenbaum had a different example in his personal collection, and that one is slabbed MS62 as well. Last I remember it was in Dave Bowers' Collection and certified by NGC.
There are also a few examples struck in copper, and one that is overstruck on an unknown token. I'd like to locate those someday.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
see Nor cal seal collection on line for more toads
Wow, nice work.
http://norcalseals.weebly.com/merriam-eagle-press-1865.html (Eagle and Toads)
http://norcalseals.weebly.com/percussion-seals-merriam-lion-bison-sphinx.html (Lion and Bison)
http://norcalseals.weebly.com/519-six-toads.html (6 Toads, also Lion, Bison and Sphinx)
Already linked from the 2014 thread:
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/912033/a-product-from-a-merchant-who-issued-and-made-civil-war-tokens