Washington Storecard Tokens 1859-63: Massachusetts

Boston

obverse 500 dpi 250 dpi

reverse 500 dpi 250 dpi

Baker 560B   (Miller Mass 56)         Joseph H. Merriam          [ca. 1859]                     Boston

Obverse:   WASHINGTON [below the ribbon on the wreath is an M for Merriam]
Reverse:   JOS. H. MERRIAM / - * - / MEDALIST / DIE SINKER / - AND - / LETTER CUTTER / ESTABLISHED 1850 / No. 18 / BRATTLE SQUARE / BOSTON, MASS.

White metal       Weight:  115.3 g   (7.47 grams)           Diameter:  27.2 mm           Reverse die alignment: 360°

Comments:   On the obverse is a draped bust of Washington facing right within an olive wreath while the reverse has the storecard advertisement. This token was issued in copper, brass and white metal. Merriam used the obverse die on his 1862 dated storecard (Baker 561, Trade Ma-Bo 81) as well as on an undated storecard for the Boston restaurant of C. F. Tuttle (Baker 581, Miller Mass 91-92, considered to be from ca. 1860). Merriam also used this obverse to produced a very few examples of a token which the reverse says was made from copper taken from the wreckage of the Frigate Congress by a G.W. Williams on January 1, 1864 (Baker 623, Trade Ma-Bo 41).

.Joseph H. Merriam first appears in the Boston directories in 1854 at 147 1/2 Washington Street, then in 1857 he moved to 18 Brattle Square (now Government Center). The undated Baker 560 is thought to predate the 1862 Baker 561 and is usually considered to be from ca. 1859.

Provenance:  Part of an anonymous donation consisting of 1100 tokens and medals covering the Nineteenth century, primarily up through the Civil War era.

Reference: Rulau and Fuld, p. 260; Rulau, Standard Catalog of United States Tokens, 2nd ed., p. 210.

1850-59d	Section Contents	StorecardsNY1