The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-08-25
TOKEN MONEY.
Various Forms Which Have Been
 Circulated in This Country,

Circulated in This Country.
 Chicago Inter Ocean.
 The action of a local drug company
 Tn issuing extensively brass checks | Sooo Tor 5-cenI glass of soIa water | recalls to early Cnicdgoans the days
 before and during the war, when token
 money was one means of making | change. W nile the cause which called l great quantities of token coins into
 monetary circulation in the early his
 tory of this country is now lacking, and | hence there Is. no danger of repetition | or the discomforts and annoyances o1
 those days, stiil any reminder hof the
 troubles of token money is sufficient tc
 awaken interest
 | Token money is called into use by the
 people of all countries when the supply
 or money available for purposes of | trade Is too limited to meet the popular
 needs. Naturally, this occurs most of-
 ten with the subsidia.y y coinage, which
 Is used in making change. All coun-
 tries have had greater or less experi-
 ence with this form of circulating me
 dium, but 1t is believed that the use of
 token coins reached its greatest devel-
 opment, and consequently it's greatest | discomforts, in the United States dur
 ing the period from 1912 to 1867. Dur | ing that time many thousands of vari- cites of tokens were issued by private parties in lieu of money. In the current issue of the Political | Science Quarterly, Roland P. Falkner describes a number of interesting varie- ties of token money which were used during this period in the United States, most of which will be remembered by
 the older persons now living. Among
 these were the so-called "shin- plas- for hn ttyhf ind
 viduals and stofekeepers. bridge. turn pike and transportation companies and others sought. to relieve the demand for small change. The semi-official cur rency which was issued by banks
 through the thnly-veiled disguise of
 private parties was another form de- scribed.
 About the year 1887 an enormous crop of small coppers of various de- | nominations appeared. 164 varieties of these have been preserved. Many of these coins. besides acting as a medium | of exchange. were used as vehicles of political satire and abuse. generally directed at President Jackson. One of these coins bore the emblem of jack ass in his most stubborn attitude. with | the letters ILL. D." on his launches | in allusion to the degree conferred on | President Jackson by Harvard Univer- | sity. Over the jackass were the word
 Roman Firmness,' and around th
 edge of the celebrated words of the 1 President, "The Constitution as 1 un- | derstaEd it." Another coin had a pie
 lure of a iackass running and the words from Van Burens inaugural T Follow in the Steps of My Iilustri- | ous Predecessor
 The contest over cho establishment
 of the government bank Is shown by | two coins one of which bears a shlT
 under full sail labeled Constitution,
 and around 1t the wor1s. 'Webstel | Credit. Currency. 1S40." while the Othel
 shows a ship labeled Experiment,
 struck by lightning ani laundering with the inscription. Wan Buren, Met 1 allie Currency 1S37." A full list of the
 coins of this period. with appropriat explanations, would form n complete
 exposition of the political controversies
 of the day. among them being found references to the bank. the suspension | of specie payments. Benton's mint
 drops" slavery and kindred subjects.
 At one time in the history of the | country a construction of an act oi .r the popular belief that postage stamps were legal tender Probably nearly 900 in postage stamps was at one time in circulation
 as money. To keep the stamps from destruction they were frequntly in-
 closed il metal cases with glass GOV
 CTS. They were finally driven out of
 use as money by large issues of frac- | tional currency.
 During the Civil War period nearly five thousand different varieties of token money were put into circulation by private individuals. The People s
 Line of steamers put its time table on
 a copper.
 Sometimes the words, "One Cent" m
 large type were put on a coin. with the word Not" very small above 1t. Other sentences. such as Good for One
 Cent" and Millions for Defense. but
 Not One Cent for Tribute" accomplish
 ed the purpose as well. It is believed
 that at least 25.OO0,0O0 of these tokens,
 bearing a face value of $250.000. were
 issued. As the coinage of subsidiary
 currency by the government increased
 token coins. rapidly dropped out of use until now they are curiosities.