Interesting Ship Token Pickup

cmerlo1

I bought this at the Houston Coin Show yesterday, It appears to depict a late 1800's/early 1900's (possibly WWI) battleship on one side, and has the remnants of some kind pattern on the other. I at first thought it might have been struck over a small cent (it's thinner and slightly larger) but it weighs almost 3.5 grams, so it's a bit too heavy. A dealer buddy of mine suggested it was possibly struck over a foreign coin of some kind. Does anyone know what this is?

CaptHenway

Just a wild guess but I would say Spanish-American War time frame. Possibly sold when Adm. Dewey returned and was celebrated.

291fifth

Spanish-American War era piece. Even though ships of that era were still in use during WWI they had long since been surpassed by the Dreadnaught style of battle ship. It may have been made on board a ship by a sailor with some metal cutting skills and some time on his hands.

tokenpro

I do not believe that it has a Span-Am connection. The ship pictured is not the first battleship USS Maine which was destroyed in Havana harbor as that ship only had two stacks, not three. The same is true of Admiral Dewey's flagship the cruiser USS Olympia. The battleship USS Maine built in honor of the sunk original ship did have three stacks but nothing commemorating that ship comes to mind.

My thought is that it is a depiction of the USS Virginia which was prominently featured at the Jamestown Tercentennial Exposition in 1907, part of the Great White Fleet which subsequently left on a tour of the world. Other tokens & medals from this expo also feature the Virginia and images of the ship match this token.

It is not struck over any other coin or medal. There is a term for that style of reverse that features only a pattern but the name escapes me at the moment - it can be found in Dick Johnson's dictionary of numismatic terms & was mentioned in the E-Sylum a couple years back. There are other similar tokens of the period that depict other subjects that share the same or a similar style of reverse (a steam engine, sulky and horse jumping a fence come to mind).

291fifth

I don't think it is the USS Virginia BB-17. The Virginia had fore and aft main turrets while the depicted ship has only a forward turret.

NumisOxide

Not the USS Maine. Here are two of the Maine I just googled. Not mine.

Namvet69

I'm gonna say it's the Olympia since it logged lots of miles and foreign exposure with that gun boat diplomacy thing. Peace Roy

NumisOxide

@Namvet69 said:
I'm gonna say it's the Olympia since it logged lots of miles and foreign exposure with that gun boat diplomacy thing. Peace Roy

I don't think it's the USS Olympia. It had only two smokestacks.

The_Dinosaur_Man

Very interesting piece! I like the commentary so far on it.

Namvet69

Oops, I stand corrected.

ricko

Interesting old medal and good research so far. That is the type of oddity I would pick up at a show or shop - I like ships, and spent several years serving aboard one. Cheers, RickO

lilolme

Here is one but when I clicked the link it was no longer there.
I am Not saying that the noted text is correct but just providing it as is.

CaptHenway

Just as a general comment on low-cost souvenir tokens, the engraver may not have known, or cared, how many smokestacks, turrets, etc. the ship he was depicting had in real life.

lilolme

A couple more that are close but not quite the same.

And the linked worked for the one above and at:
http://numismaclub.com/unt/105577-battleship_maine_pictured.html

JBK

@CaptHenway said:
Just as a general comment on low-cost souvenir tokens, the engraver may not have known, or cared, how many smokestacks, turrets, etc. the ship he was depicting had in real life.

That was my thought as well.

If it bears any resemblance to the USS Maine, that ship would be my first guess. There were tons of Maine mementos and tributes produced after it blew up, and for some time after. "Remember the Maine" was a common rallying cry for some years after.

NumisOxide

@CaptHenway said:
Just as a general comment on low-cost souvenir tokens, the engraver may not have known, or cared, how many smokestacks, turrets, etc. the ship he was depicting had in real life.

That is quite possible.

cmerlo1

Thanks, everyone! This turned out to be a really interesting post.

Now that I know what to search for, I found this one on eBay just now. Looks looks like the same die as my piece:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/184263282623?hash=item2ae6f28fbf:g:PsQAAOSwP4xeyE4v