Andrew Johnson medallion (take 2)

charlesf20

I know that your not supposed to clean any of these things but I am very curious of the reverse
side unreadable markings.
Is there a way of safely removing some of the built up debris without actually cleaning?

jonathanb

No harm in cleaning that one. I was made in huge quantities in the mid 1900s. It has no value even in pristine condition, sorry.

ricko

Although not a high value medallion, if you want to preserve the surface (no cleaning lines etc.), soak it in pure acetone - give it several rinses, with agitation. That will remove organics. Good luck, Cheers, RickO

tokenpro

That piece is part of a Presidential series of small tokens struck by the Osborne Register Co. of Cincinnati. The tokens have the President on the obverse and several lines of facts & his nickname on the reverse and were struck in large quantities in both aluminum and brass. The tokens were use for a number of different promotions over the years - two of the memorable ones were a gas station promotion (can't remember which brand) where they were given away with each fill up ; if you completed the aluminum set you could send it in for a set in brass in a holder.

The second well known use of the brass tokens was their inclusion in the "Meet The Presidents" board game by the Selchow & Righter (S&R) toy company. It looks like it was first published in 1949 and was updated every few years with new tokens added for the new Presidents. That game gave me my first exposure to Presidential history as well as 1) teaching me the Presidents in order, and 2) helping to ingrain tokens into my consciousness.

charlesf20

@tokenpro said:
That piece is part of a Presidential series of small tokens struck by the Osborne Register Co. of Cincinnati. The tokens have the President on the obverse and several lines of facts & his nickname on the reverse and were struck in large quantities in both aluminum and brass. The tokens were use for a number of different promotions over the years - two of the memorable ones were a gas station promotion (can't remember which brand) where they were given away with each fill up ; if you completed the aluminum set you could send it in for a set in brass in a holder.

The second well known use of the brass tokens was their inclusion in the "Meet The Presidents" board game by the Selchow & Righter (S&R) toy company. It looks like it was first published in 1949 and was updated every few years with new tokens added for the new Presidents. That game gave me my first exposure to Presidential history as well as 1) teaching me the Presidents in order, and 2) helping to ingrain tokens into my consciousness.

Very thorough, thank you. Now I have some history of this coin to tell my wife who happened upon it in her coat pocket.