The Cardinal Libertas Americana Tokens of the US Centennial Collection
Zoins
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I just ran across the Cardinal Libertas Americana Tokens of the US Centennial while researching another thread.
I'm a big fan of the Libertas Americana and I've always wanted to put together a Libertas Americana token collection so it's great to see such a wonderful collection!
Here are a few from Lingg & Bro. which I was trying to match for the other thread. See the PCGS Registry Set for more.
Congrats to Cardinal!
Rulau Pa-Ph 220B Copper
Rulau Pa-Ph 234 White Metal
Rulau Pa-Ph 234A Copper
Rulau Pa-Ph 243A Copper
I'm a big fan of the Libertas Americana and I've always wanted to put together a Libertas Americana token collection so it's great to see such a wonderful collection!
Here are a few from Lingg & Bro. which I was trying to match for the other thread. See the PCGS Registry Set for more.
Congrats to Cardinal!
Rulau Pa-Ph 220B Copper
Rulau Pa-Ph 234 White Metal
Rulau Pa-Ph 234A Copper
Rulau Pa-Ph 243A Copper
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The token collection started out from the search for a few of the small token-sized Libertas Americana pieces to include in the Libertas Americana Through Time collection of the original and restrike medals.
Having seen a few of the tokens, I thought those would be a natural inclusion for the medal set, but I had no idea initially of just how many different varieties existed for the tokens. As currently posted in the Showcase, there are 85 different varieties presented. I have another 12 different varieties awaiting grading, and that will bring the total up to 97 distinct varieties. It's hard to believe, but that still leaves me with 79 more varieties to locate, in order to have a "complete" set!
It does seem like a natural extension of your Libertas Americana Through Time collection so it's great that you're building it. I had no idea that there were 176 varieties in all. Good luck and keep up the good work
Old Thread Update
I'm a big fan of coin dealer tokens and just ran across the J.W. Scott & Co. coin & stamp dealer tokens. I didn't know about these before but thought they might be in cardinal's set and they were. I was pleasantly surprised to see 3 pop 1/0's here! Love the double struck brass reverse too! The white metal one I ran across was holed so cardinal’s specimen is much better.
Congrats @cardinal!
(1876) J.W. Scott & Co Dealer Token Copper NY-NY 830 Ex-Bowers PCGS MS64 pop 1/1/0
Ex: Quentin David Bowers
https://www.pcgs.com/cert/30766658
(1876) J.W. Scott & Co Dealer Token Copper NY-NY 830A Ex-Boyd, Ford, Tanenbaum PCGS MS64 RB pop 0/1/0
Ex: Fred Charles Cogswell Boyd, John Jay Ford, Jr. and Steve Tanenbaum
https://www.pcgs.com/cert/29303478
(1876) J.W. Scott & Co Dealer Token Brass NY-NY 830B Ex-Boyd, Ford, Tanenbaum PCGS MS63 pop 0/1/0
Ex: Fred Charles Cogswell Boyd, John Jay Ford, Jr. and Steve Tanenbaum
https://www.pcgs.com/cert/29303479
Great stuff!
Thanks @Zoins!
As of September 2015, there were 97 different tokens in the collection, and now there are 128. The collection has gotten to the point where it is almost impossible to find the remaining tokens that are needed. (A complete set requires a total of 188!) I am now exploring different ways of holdering the tokens - like having each of the different compositions of each of the merchant's tokens all together in a multi-coin holder -- which would look something like this:
Of course, this means I need an extra specimen to illustrate the reverse, while the Libertas obverse dominates the presentation. (For example, I already have all 4 of the tokens shown in the mock-up of the holder.)
Does anyone have the remaining 60? Or are they just unknown to exist anywhere?
Good luck completing the set!
Also, nice work on the presentation. It would be great to get them into multi-holders with a custom insert!
That is an extensive collection and I wonder if a complete set is even achievable....Good luck...Cheers, RickO
The tokens were made right around the 1876 Centennial Celebration, and were written up (words only, no pictures) right around that time. It would have been easy to collect them all if I could time travel back to 1876! That said, since they are just tokens, I'm sure many were just lost, and whoever may have any now might think they're worthless and not even think to offer them for sale. (With some help from Steve Hayden, I finally have images of the merchant sides of the tokens. There are just 91 different reverses that were struck with the Libertas Americana obverse, but with the different materials they were struck in, there ends up being 188 for a complete collection.)
I know definitely that some of those 60 do still exist and are out there. When I saw the Tanenebaum mule set was available, I ultimately made a deal to acquire it. It was listed as a "complete" set of the mules, but there were quite a few that were missing from a truly complete set. As I was considering that purchase, I noticed that the NGC numbers were in sequence, but with some numbers missing. I could see on the NGC site that those missing numbers were actually assigned to genuine token mules, and those also happened to be one that I still need. I suppose they were removed from the set because they were "details" graded pieces. I inquired about their availability, but they were not to be found. (If anyone comes across them, I would be interested. The NGC serial numbers of those missing Libertas mules are: 2574545-042 (brass), 2574545-088 (copper), and 2574545-081 (copper).)
That is a fine question!! The smaller tokens made by the Lingg Brothers were likely made it significant quantities, so a subset of those should be achievable. Of the 60 I still need, only 21 are the Lingg tokens. The remaining 39 are Bolen pieces, which generally were made in very limited numbers, and some are believed to be unique or nearly so. Those might be the stoppers!
Thanks for the information. I was wondering how you know about the remaining 60 if they never show up. Looking for things without pics is definitely an adventure.
Good luck finding the rest. Hopefully, the NGC ones can be found. Perhaps a bit more promotion and then owner will be able to find you.
Thanks @ Zoins!!
Here are the ones that "got away," from the Tanenbaum Libertas Americana mules:
Bump for @SiriusBlack!
Since you are collecting these now, check out @cardinal's amazing collection!
Enjoy it
@zoins Definitely! He’s been a huge help to me, teaching me about them, but I hadn’t seen this thread!
Collector of randomness. Photographer at PCGS. Lover of Harry Potter.
@Zoins
@SiriusBlack
Thanks for bringing back that thread from 18 months ago! Since that time, the collection has increased to have 133 different tokens. So....only 55 more to go!
These are the 5 Newps added to the collection:
Incredible! It's hard enough to find a handful of these in pristine collection but you have 133! This is one of the most impressive exonumia collections I've seen! Very deeply focused with a large number of pieces.
Nice additions! This is my favorite and It looks great with all your pieces!
These Bolen pieces with the bust of Washington have been together for a LONG time!!
All 4 are Ex Charles I. Bushnell, S.H. and H. Chapman, June 1882, lot 1497 (part); William Spohn Baker Collection, to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania by bequest, November 15, 1897, StacksBowers, November 2019;
Very nice presentation on these @cardinal!
Surely you can't be Sirius!