Gem General Washington Game Counter Token

Zoins

I have some Spiel-Marke game counter tokens but this MS65 PL stood out in the last Stack's Bowers Baltimore sale. Unfortunately, I didn't see it until after the auction where it sold for $228.

It's great to know this is cataloged by Neil E. Musante as Musante GW-409. Since he also did Bolen's pieces I may need to follow him more.

https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-GQ1MZ/undated-ca-1860-spiel-marke-long-bust-eagle-no-shield-brass-27-mm-musante-gw-409-baker-599-ms-65-pl-ngc

Zoins

Heritage's description for a similar, but slightly different, piece indicates this may be a Ludwig Christian Lauer piece:

one of a group of game counters produced by Ludwig Christian Lauer in Nuremburg, Germany, in the mid-1860s, the image of Washington is based on an 1817 print by Giuseppe Longhi;

https://coins.ha.com/itm/washingtonia/tokens-and-medals/group-lot-consists-of-seven-scarce-1850s-1860s-game-counters-washington-in-unitate-fortitudo-strength-in-unity-gamin/a/416-6434.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515

CaptHenway

You never see them that nice!

coinsarefun

I was watching that one too. I’ve never seen a pl in any of the spiel or other gaming tokens.
And I really couldn’t see the pl in those pics. Great high grade piece nonetheless and was
very happy it closed with a healthy price.

I sent in several other pieces again to PCGS for grading and trueviews, including some California flag ones

coinsarefun

I updated the thread of spiel tokens to include a few trueviews and a reference

** ONLINE TAMS**
This covers so many different California and other counter tokens. I highly recommend this to anyone that might consider
collecting these...or already does
.

Zoins

Just ran across this thread again and thought it's worth posting the William Spohn Baker GW-420 Spiel Mark token in PCGS MS66. Lady Liberty's cheek and hair look especially clean on this one which recently sold for a healthy $1,800. Is this a record for game counters?

• https://www.pcgs.com/cert/37518870
• https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-KFAML/washington-gaming-token-or-spiel-marke-liberty-head-large-format-musante-gw-402-baker-595-brass-ms-66-pcgs

ricko

@Zoins....Wow...that is a very nice one.... great detail and very clean.... Cheers, RickO

DCW

$1800 was a crazy sum for this piece, but as previously discussed, the winning bidder had no limit.

Zoins

@DCW said:
$1800 was a crazy sum for this piece, but as previously discussed, the winning bidder had no limit.

Well, the winning bidder did have a limit, it was just very high. I wonder if we'll ever find out everything bidder 3975 won vs. others.

Broadstruck

@Zoins said:

I wonder if we'll ever find out everything bidder 3975 won vs. others.

>

Heard 3975 is currently building a no expense spared pyramid to be buried with his new treasures

Insider2

I think what we are seeing is an appreciation of these things that in the distant past were virtually always a junk box "find." Prices such as these should bring more out of hiding. As Tom wrote, this is one of the nicest examples I've seen but I have seen Unc's. They often have a tiny amount of discoloration on the high point OR a detracting spot. John Kern had some nice ones a year or two ago.

DCW

@Insider2 said:
I think what we are seeing is an appreciation of these things that in the distant past were virtually always a junk box "find."

There is definitely more appreciation, but this sale of the Baker Collection had a few important distinctions.

1. This was a famous collection of Washingtonia from the father of Washingtonia. He literally wrote the book on the subject, and his pieces were almost exclusively high mint state examples of the highest quality.

2. All of it was bequeathed to the Pennsylvania Historical Society where they remained for the last 140 years! How often does the general public have the opportunity to purchase rarities from a museum?

3. There was one bidder who bid on every single lot, taking each piece to record highs even the obvious common stuff. Normally, I would think this was orchestrated by the consignor or the house, but that makes little sense here. I think perhaps it was just someone with money that simply "wanted it all."

This should definitely skew the price points on exonumia for the foreseeable future.

Zoins

I first ran across these a number of circulated specimens of these on eBay and Heritage. It's great to see more uncirculated and even gem specimens available on the market now.

Good observations about the Baker sale @DCW . I also think the Baker sales prices are very high but I'm also not sure the prices for exonumia will change much until we know more about bidder 3975 and if there are any more collectors like that joining the ranks.

Namvet69

Thanks for the TAMS reference. I'm going to make a cup of tea and enjoy this! Peace Roy