Do We Call Them So-Called Dimes Or Dime Sized Counters Or Small Tokens? by Paul Williams
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Do We Call Them So-CalleD DimeS or Dime SizeD CounTerS or Small TokenS? by Paul Williams The So-Called Dollar term was invented because the the entire Lord’s Prayer on the reverse. Several exam- medals defined by it are all the size of the most popular ples are in the Fauver Collection. The 1876 Centennial US coin of all time- the Silver Dollar. The unintended in Philadelphia produced a medal with the Prayer on consequence of a popular coin is that other similar the reverse. Henry Kettle of Birmingham England also metal pieces will follow of the same size. Why not? Its produced Lord’s Prayer medals. In America the Lord everybody’s favorite. “Who Art In Heaven” and in Britain the Lord “Which Benjamin Fauver had a box in his collection labeled Art In Heaven.” Wiley W. Osborne bought Murdock’s “So-Called Dimes.” In it were a series of dime sized business so it became the Osborne Coinage Company, tokens that fit the definition of the “So-Called” part a still operating private mint. of “So-Called Dollars.” The tokens are all exposition The collection of collector Benjamin Fauver rep- commemorative pieces, but all dime (18mm) sized. resented 23 different states, with California being the But So-Called Dimes? The humble dime is in our cul- most prolific. Expositions became popular after the ture: “Somebody Loan Me A Dime,” a “dime-a-dozen”. success of the 1893 Columbian Exposition: The Chica- “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” is one of the best go World’s Fair. known songs from the Great Depression. Harold E. Hibler and Charles V. Kappen wrote the book on So Called Dollars in 1963, and defined their focus: “This present work is restricted to medals of an exposition, commemorative, monetary and kindred nature. ...From the beginning, however, it was nec- essary to establish the following specific limitations in order to contain our efforts within a manageable perimeter.” We can imitate the parameters of a So- Called Dollar: 1. United States only 2. Minimum and 1894 Mid Winter Fair maximum: 16-20 mm. 3. Looped material is essential as many were made to be worn. (Very few So Called Michael H. De Young visited the Columbian Ex- Dollars have loops as they were heavier to wear.) 4. No position, and brought the idea home to San Francis- plastic, fiber or similar material because they are metal. co, creating the 1894 Mid Winter Exposition to spur 5. No political medals. economic activity in the Depression, and highlight Enough with the rules. The medals in the Fauver the mild winters in California compared to the East- Collection are mostly 18 mm: the same size as a dime. ern cities. The Fair occupied Golden Gate Park for six Each are commemorating an exposition or commemo- months. Park superintendent John McLaren (he served rative event. for 53 years) opposed the exposition saying it ruined Most of these pieces are rare and die sinkers are hard the Park’s natural scenery. At the conclusion of the Fair, to identify. James Murdock Jr. of Cincinnati sold his McLaren had his revenge by tearing down most of the medalets at various fairs throughout many states sur- one hundred buildings and digging up their concrete rounding Ohio. In the 1890s he used a stock die with foundations. 1 thermometer dropped to -30 degrees. Much of the ice was harvested from the Mississippi River. Ropes, block and tackle and horse power lifted the ice blocks upward and workmen swung the blocks into place. A bucket of water was poured onto the top of the wall as the new block was lowered into place, freezing instant- ly. Once a course of blocks was in place, the surface was smoothed for the next course. When the carnival opened on February 4, 1886, people paid 25 cents to visit the palace. 1898 Denver Carnival & Peace Jubilee The next twenty years saw many expositions in many cities. Many occurred to celebrate the United States’ victory in the 1898 Spanish American War. Peace Carnivals and Jubilees were held in Denver, Chi- cago, Detroit, and Washington D.C. (1899). Colorado had an annual festival started in 1894-1899 called the Festival of Mountain and Plain. In 1898, the Carnival & Peace Jubilee Celebration ran concurrently. Many of the great Expositions are represented in these commemoratives, and as extensive as the Fauver Collection was, a couple of the famous Fairs are absent: the 1893 Columbian Exposition, and the 1898 Trans Mississippi Exposition in Omaha. Two exhibition/ expositions held in Philadelphia in 1874 (Franklin Institute Exhibition) and the 1876 Centennial are not represented. The earliest pieces are 1880 Fairmont Park Pennsylvania, and 1886 from the St. Paul Ice Palace in Minnesota. 1897 Cedar Rapids Carnival / 1900 Burlington Saenger Fest August 8, 1900 was the start of Burlington Iowa’s biggest beer and bratwurst party, as Germans from throughout the Midwest descended upon the town for the 19th Bi-Annual Northwest Saengerfest -- a celebra- tion of German music and good times. For three days Teutonic tunesters arrived by steamboat, wagon and train until over 5,000 visitors from all over the midwest sang, danced, played music and drank beer. Burlington claimed one-third of its population to be German-born or of direct descent, and during 1886 St. Paul Ice Palace the festival, many of the homes welcomed passers-by with keg beer, sausages and sandwiches as Sheriff Bill The St. Paul Ice Palace and Winter Carnival hired Muenzenmeyer conveniently turned a blind eye to the the Hutchinson brothers of Montreal to design and carrying-on. build St. Paul’s first ice palace. An eight acre site in Central Park was chosen, with busy thoroughfares on three sides. Construction was delayed due to tem- peratures above freezing, then work slowed as the 2 Benjamin Fauver’S “So CalleD DimeS” California 1894 Midwinter Exposition 1898 Marshalls Cabin Semi Centennial (gold discovery commemoration) 1900 50th Anniversary of San Francisco 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire 1909 Portola Festival 1913 Portola Festival 1915 Pan Pacific International Exposition Colorado 1898 Denver Carnival & Peace Jubilee 1880 Fairmont Park Centennial 1882 Bicentennial Settlement of Pennsylvania. Connecticut 1901 Yale College New Haven The earliest piece in the Fauver group was dated 1906 Meriden Centennial Celebration 1880 at Fairmount Park Philadelphia. The nation 1908 Hartford Dedication of Bridge celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 1876 in Philadelphia, the first District of Columbia full-scale world’s fair held in the United States. As the exhibits in Fairmount Park demonstrated, the cause Peace Jubilee / Admiral Schley for celebration was not primarily history but industrial progress. Among the historical sites in the park along Georgia the Schuylkill River are the Fairmount Waterworks, Mt. Pleasant, the Strawberry Mansion and Woodford 1895 Cotton States Exposition House. 1898 10th Georgia Chautauqua Specialized exonumia categories are abundant: Love Illinois Tokens, Civil War Tokens, So Called Dollars, and counters. Can we carve out a niche for the commemo- 1898 Chicago Peace Jubilee rative metalets the size of a dime? 1899 Laying of the Post Office Cornerstone 1900 34th Encampment 1926 28th International Eucharistic Congress 1931 Chicago Jubilee Week Indiana 1898 20th Convention Knights of Pythias (two varieties) 1914 Terre Haute Bi-Ennial Convention 3 Iowa Minnesota 1897 Cedar Rapids Carnival 1902 Elks Fair & Carnival 1900 Burlington Saenger Fest 1907 State Fair Kansas Missouri 1897 Flower Carnival Topeka 1897 Kansas City Carnival and Flower Parade (two varieties) 1903 World’s Fair Dedication in St. Louis Kentucky South Carolina Kentucky Rifleman 1900 Charlestown Carnival 1901-2 West Indian Exposition New York Utah 1901 Buffalo Pan American Exposition 1907 Buffalo Exposition 1901 Salt Lake City Convention of Cattlemen 1909 Hudson/Fulton Celebration 1913 Commodore Perry Centennial in Buffalo Virginia 1933 Century of Progress World’s Fair 1907 Jamestown Tercentennial Maine U.S. / Virginia / Sailing Ship Remember the Maine Wisconsin 1920 Old Glory Maine Centennial 1905 Modern Woodmen of America Maryland 1907 Old Home Week Celebration 1913 Grand Aerie F. O. E. Massachusetts Bibliography 1900 50th Anniversary of Lynn Hibler, Harold E. and Charles V. Kappen “So Called 1902 150th Anniversary of Danvers Dollars,” New York: Coin and Currency Institute, 1963. 1903 Boston Educational Association 1907 Boston Old Home Week Schenkman, David “James Murdock, Jr. Ohio Die 1930 Massachusetts Tercentennial Sinker,” The Numismatist, May 2018. Michigan Ramsey County Historical Society Website “Ice King” 1898 Detroit Remember the Maine Hansen, Bob, “Around Burlington: For Three Days in 1898 Grand Rapids Carnival 1903 Detroit Cuba Vets 1900 Germany Came to Burlington,” The Hawk Eye, 1910 Detroit Grand Lodge Reunion August 16, 2015. Holabird, Fred, “Essay on Counters” 4.