My new Civil War token - Drovers' Hotel

[BillJones]

Here's a Civil War token that I have wanted to purchase for while, the Drovers' Hotel token from St. Louis, Missouri. If you had any doubt as to what the drovers are driving, the steer head is the give-away. This was a hotel for the guys who earned their living “movin’ ‘em up” and “headin’ ‘em out, RAWHIDE!”

 

Among other things I like to collect Civil War tokens that advertised for unusual occupations, and while this is a hotel, which is not unusual, the clientele certainly was. Somehow given the hard life that the men on the cattle drives lived, I doubt that this hotel would have given the Ritz a run for its money.

 

This piece is listed in Fuld as MO 910 A-2a, and it’s an R-7 (estimated 10 to 20 known). The merchant is scarce although there are ten varieties listed with various reverses, other than this Indian head, and metals. None of the varieties is more common than R-6 (estimated 20 to 75 known). I grade the piece AU-58.

 

 

There are very few Civil War tokens listed for Missouri, and this one is on the expensive side at several hundred dollars. Even in the "good old days" one of these would set you back $240 or so. I wish I had bought it then! .

 

All of my Civil War tokens are raw and I store them in Eagle holders and albums. I like to put tags beside each category. Since this will probably my only Missouri token, I made up this tag for it.

 

[physics-fan3.14]

That piece is in really good condition, very eye appealing. I love the rarity, too. Nice find.

[MikeInFL]

Neat coin, and what a great state of preservation!

[rrantique]

That is a cool token Bill!! The tag fits it perfectly. (thumbs u

[EZ_E]

That is a fascinating piece, Bill. I've read countless hundreds of westerns and all of Ralph Compton's cattle drive series. Boy I tell ya, that was one tough job, especially riding drag. I'm sure that now-a-days riding drag could conjure up a whole different meaning for this term. Keep in mind that I'm not point fingers at anyone, Chris Machuga. What you do on your own time is your own business...

 

Bill, I especially like your tag. Cool. I also have my medals and CWT's in an Eagle album.

[physics-fan3.14]