Stuyvesant Casino token
jmm2562
Posts: 53 ✭✭
I have a "10" token from Stuyvesant Casino in NY. I'm unable to find any similar examples of such a token. I would love to know more about it's history and what it was used for in the storied New York venue. Are there any token experts in the house that can point me in the right direction?
Thanks!
Jim (jmm2562)
4
Comments
Remarkably, I found another Stuyvesant Casino token in my collection. This one is a bit larger but slightly smaller than a quarter. It is aluminum and labeled "25" on the reverse. It is actually more silver than the picture shows due to the incandescent lighting.
I'm heretofore unable to find any such tokens anywhere on the web. Surely, these cannot be the only two that survived the casino's tenure.
Where's @tokenpro when you need him?
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Doesn't appear to be on tokencatalog.com. Im sure there are others out there. Interesting piece!
They were used in the slot machines, I would imagine.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
these are cool, I've never them before
I doubt the 25 was used in slot machines. It's made of aluminum and very light. Also it would wear out pretty fast I imagine. It would be down to a 10 in no time.
Yes, I have to believe other similar tokens must exist from the Casino. But I've searched the universe to no avail.
By the way, it was opened as a night club and had quite a colorful history...
https://www.6sqft.com/jewish-gangsters-jazz-legends-and-joy-division-the-evolution-of-the-ukrainian-national-home/
No mention of any gambling, but in such a night club I would imagine things happen in the smoky back rooms. These tokens bring memories of the place back to life.
Interesting read on Wikipedia about the casino.
Very interesting, thanks for sharing. Hope to see more details as they are discovered.
More photos for context... (my photography is not the best, limited to my iPhone X)...
Another couple curious artifacts on the tokens...
I wonder why. Cool mysteries continue.
Although I'm not sure how much I'm ever actually needed, in this instance I was away scouring the St. Louis coin show for hidden gems with mixed success.
I recall handling at least one example of the Stuyvesant Casino (10c?) at least 30+ years ago - I do not remember if it was in one of my auction catalogs or in my show inventory but it was not an expensive piece. I've found sales records on two more examples that probably came from the late Steve Tannenbaum's New York City trade token collection. A 10c denomination brought $23.50 in 2015 and a $1.00 denomination brought just over $50 two years later - both were on the stronger side of the price spectrum. Please note that "casino" did not always mean a place with open gambling but often just a large and flashy full service social or night club, especially in the Eastern U.S.
The radiant denomination reverse dies on the Stuyvesant tokens were most probably made by the Quints die sinking firm. Each die sinking firm had its own set up style so it would not uncommon to find the same punctuation on other dies made by the same die sinker.
As far as St. Louis goes, I did pick up a stock Civil War I.D. tag I haven't handled before in a decent grade -- the Maier-Stahl catalog lists it as "extremely rare" so I think I'm happy with the purchase.
Wow that is a beautiful ID tag!
Thanks for your comments on the Stuyvesants. From all accounts, they are rare but perhaps not in high demand. Regardless, they do have a colorful origin at the casino of moderate repute.