An incredible piece of advertising from Civil War die sinker Joseph Merriam
DCW
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Here is an amazing find that relates to my favorite die sinker, Joseph H. Merriam of Boston. It was found in a large collection of pre-Victorian postcards and advertising cards of Massachusetts. 
It is a very rare cardboard advertising card (slightly bigger than a baseball card) from the shop of Merriam & Co, circa 1865, promoting the toad press manufactured at Brattle Square in Boston. Merriam immortalized this odd looking embossing press on the obverse die of one of his Good for a scent tokens, MA-115D-2b:
Amazing to think this piece of ephemera survived at all. Probably akin to finding some obscure Chinese food restaurant menu 150 years from now. They simply were not saved. The tokens are rare, the presses rarer still, but this card might well be the lone survivor. Very exciting addition!
Below is the actual toad press from Merriam's shop:
Thanks for looking
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
Comments
An outstanding example of Merrimack advertising, and in pristine condition. What a find!
"A penny hit by lightning is worth six cents". Opie Taylor
Pretty sweet!
Way cool for sure! Amazing it survived.
The Toad Press is really neat. The embossing plates look like they can be changed out. The top plate looks like its held in place with a set screw but not sure about the bottom one. Maybe just a metal dowel or has a screw underneath. Just curious.
I love that token
BHNC #248 … 108 and counting.
Almost forgot. The token is fantastic.
Everything about this is cool.
What is the association with the masons. Did they print the card?
@GoldenEgg said:
Very observant of you to catch that! Merriam was most likely a mason. His work was muled with that of his partner W.N.Weeden, who specialized in masonic medals.
This is one such mule, featuring Merriam's Washington die with Weeden's Boston Masonic Lodge die. Struck in silver
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
That's an amazing store card. Even more amazing is that it has the Toad Press on it!
Congrats on a great pickup!
I wonder if it's possible to find out definitively if Merriam was a mason by going through the Masonic Lodge records?
I want the press.
Outstanding items! I'll take both!!
That is a neat grouping of related items.
Once in a while I come across (and buy) ephemera related to Denver-area engravers such as Sachs-Lawlor and H.H. Tammen.
I would love to one day find one of the Good for Scents with the Toad reverse and of course a Toad press to match. So awesome DCW!
Latin American Collection
Great find, and that Toad Press is amazing. I have watched for one of those for years...no luck. Cheers, RickO
Very cool Den, thanks for sharing!
Fun Stuff !
WS
I want the press.
awesome post. Thanks for sharing
Great thread. Very informative. Thanks, DCW.
Thanks for sharing!! I really enjoyed it.
Great find! Very cool especially with the toad press on the trade card. Thanks for sharing!
ANA-LM, CWTS-LM, NBS, TAMS, ANS
More Merriam Toads
http://norcalseals.weebly.com/519-six-toads.html
Anyone know if any of the seal machines are still in working order?
Looks like it would work fine. Very few moving parts, after all.
The Toad Percussion seal press made poor impressions, as did All percusion seals. This encouraged more pounding on these seals, further deteriorating them. Lever and screw presses made reliable (legal) embossments not dependent on the amount of sudden whack. Even grandma could make a nice impression with these.