Federal Coin Exchange 1942 with Lincoln on the obverse
jmm2562
Posts: 37 ✭✭
Good Monday Morning All!
I have a token in my collection showing Lincoln on the obverse (similar to US Penny Lincoln bust) with text on the reverse that might be for an arcade but that might just be the name...
Obverse:
"FEDERAL COIN EXCHANGE 1942"
Reverse:
"37 THE ARCADE"
"* CLEVELAND *"
"5940 PEARL ROAD"
Questions:
1) What is a "Federal Coin Exchange"? Is it just trading in coins for currency? If so, what role does the token play?
2) Is this token scarce? I can only find a single WorthPoint auction with the same token. (I have the zinc edition)
3) What is the best source(s) for identifying such tokens and their approximate value? I have a couple hundred tokens for all shapes and sizes. I keep running into tokens for which I'm unable to find a match, even with an image search.
Comments
Interesting token, I haven't seen one before.
That’s pretty cool. A privately made arcade token,
Probably not.
The Arcade is a shopping center. https://www.theclevelandarcade.com/ and https://www.theclevelandarcade.com/history.htm
Most likely it was a coin shop. If only there were, say, a Business Directory for Cleveland in 1942...
https://cplorg.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16014coll29/search/searchterm/1942/field/date/mode/exact/conn/and
ANA 50 year/Life Member (now "Emeritus")
This is relevant. It is the address on their auction catalogs.
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/auctioncompanydetail/510732?Year=1954&displayAmt=50
"To Be Esteemed Be Useful" - 1792 Birch Cent --- "I personally think we developed language because of our deep need to complain." - Lily Tomlin
1942 may be the date the company was founded rather than the date the medallion was struck. During WWII metal tended to go for war production needs and not medallions such as this one. It would not surprise to learn it actually dates from the 1950's or early 1960's. I've never seen one before so it is a nice find.
What does the number 37 represent?
Given that it is a shopping mall, perhaps it is the store number. Just a guess.
Michael Kolman, Jr. was the founder of Federal Coin Exchange and was active in the collecting community as well. He was president of one of the earliest mint error groups (COME - Collectors Of Mint Errors) and served as president of the Central States Numismatic Society (CSNS) in the 1980's among other local and regional positions. He and his wife Rose were good people.
Believe it or not, the 5940 Pearl Road address in Parma Heights may have been Mike's home address as he did live there at one time & the property looks as if it has always been residential. Mike passed away a number of years ago. Some of the Cleveland crowd should have more details.