Souvenir money....what's that?

[toyonakataro]

I attached a picture of my Alaska "souvenir money"

I bought this coin about 25 years ago without knowing what it is and still don't know what.

Maybe it's a token? It reads "good for $1...."

Were they made by U.S mint or by private issue?

[truthteller]

These were issued by private enterprises on Hawaii and Alaska in 1959 as 'good for' tokens, allowing a visitor or tourist to spend these tokens at certain establishments(chamber of commerce) for a limited time. Many tokens were kept by tourists in commemoration of the 49th and 50th state. They are listed in some catalogs as 'so called dollars' and are priced at a few dollars. Very common issues with different motifs.

 

 

 

TRUTH

[cladking]

This is the most common of the municipal good for tokens made for Alaska statehood. They aren't often seen in very high grade like this but there are substantial numbers of these available. There are only a couple hundred serious collectors and there are thousand of this issue. It's still a nice piece and appeals to collectors of other specialties also. It usually sells for a dollar or two. There are at least three obverse varieties and one is uncommon. I wasn't aware these were still available so late, so it's possible it's a fifferent run than the original though I have no guess which is the scarcer variety.

[toyonakataro]

Thanks truthteller and cladking

I've heared the word "so called doller" but didn't realize I already have one.

It's great to know what I have rather than owning unkown coin.

Only worth a few dollers?

I paid 1000 yen for it when I was 10 or 11 years old.....big money for a kid

Still cool