Coin Identification Help

[Jayman]

New to the coin section of the boards but have had this coin in my collection for some time and have never been able to find any info on it (if it even is a coin).

Any help would be appreciated.

 

 

It has the profile of a horse as you can see by the rough outline.

 

 

On the reverse the words Spiel Marke appear.

 

 

The coin is about the size of a US dime and very thin as seen below on top of a US quarter. I also believe it is gold due to the thinness and dark oxidation.

Thanks again for any help.

 

[Hoot]

"Spiel Marke" would translate to "Play Marke" or "Play Money." Gold simply would not oxidize that way and the piece is likely brass. BTW, great pics!

 

Anyone else?

 

Welcome to the boards Jayman!

 

Hoot

[Jayman]

Thanks for the quick response! You just jarred my memory as I think someone a long time ago told me about Spiel meaning play, German right? My mistake as I thought gold turned dark or blackish if oxidized. I would now assume this is from some type of game or playset.

[Hoot]

Yes, "spiel" means "play." It's a neat little token and would be fun to learn whence it came and to which game it belonged.

 

Hoot

[TomB]

I agree with Hoot that it is likely a gaming token, perhaps made of brass. Also, terrific job on outlining the horse as that helped quite a bit.

[Jayman]

Ahh, the internet. Just Googled Spiel Marke and found the following bits of info:

 

Spiel Markes were counters or game pieces. They often imitate contemporary coins but leave out the correct legends or denomination to avoid the accusation of counterfeiting.The tokens became a popular advertising vehicle and were often included political messages. Spiel Markes, or similar tokens, became substitutes for small change in many countries, including in the United States, during periods of economic chaos.

 

From 1845 - 1860 the series of U.S. merchant tokens continued much as it had in the late "Hard Times" period. Commercial types prevailed; there was very little of the political satire of the 1830's. Counterstamped advertisements on cents and silver coins increased greatly during this period, one of the most common being the VOTE THE LAND FREE slogan of the Free Soil Party in 1848. Another innovation was the widespread introduction of spiel marke tokens, that is, pieces imitating the design of current gold coins ($10, $5, and $20 pieces being the most common, in that order), struck in brass, and intended for use as game counters or poker chips. These pieces, showing the eagle or Liberty head of the gold coins, or often both, are so numerous that one numismatist, Michael Pfefferkorn, has written of this era as the Spiel Marke Period.

[Hoot]

What's interesting about your piece is that it has the oak wreath of the Type 2 Indian head cents (or it's quite similar). Yet, the obverse is a horse! That makes me think that the coin must have been used either in a child's game or in a specialized gaming situation.

 

Hoot

[leprecoin]

I think the third piece is part of your game... :-)

i have no farther info but i can scan it bigger when i get it if you'll like.

[Hoot]

Neat set of tokens. Some tokens' rendition to Liberty are uite nice. Nice heraldic eagles too. Where did you find those pieces?

 

Hoot

[leprecoin]

I know nothing about tokens,

and run across it mistakly on ebay...

i got it just because the small one looked familiar, very soon after i remembered why....

this thread :-)

am still cluless for why US coin would become the image of German token