token lovers
- Thread starter Solartje
- Start date
BReBL3kCBNvrg~~_12.JPG)
The token is one of the many produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Co., or BBC. Sometime around 1874 they started selling tokens to businesses. They may have produced some of these tokens themselves, but many of them were produced by other companies. The least expensive tokens were those with the company's stock reverse that listed the company's name and usually a picture of a pool table. This was an effective means of advertising the BBC name as well as the local establishment. BBC also sold custom tokens without mention of their company name at a higher price, but these are not distinguishable from those of other manufacturers.
the reason behind the tokens.
read this page: http://www.chicagocoinclub.org/projects/PiN/cut.html
brunswick made these trade tokens from the late 1800 till early 1900
There are tokens from each stage of brunswick (before H collender and Julius Balke joined). this is one of the earlyest and rarest of them all.
The tokens are worth something: 5cent, 10cent, a sigar, a free drink, or other things. People used to gamble with them in the poolhalls. each put up a token, and the winner gets them. this way if you are a good player, you could play and drink all day using these tokens to pay for it.
I'm not a big token collector at all, but I bought one to add to my brunswick collection, then bought another, bought a book about it, and... well needsless to say im trying to collect one token of each reverse from all the different periods. even if most collecters are interested in the origin of the token (salloon name, state etc), i dont mind collecting mavericks, as long as the pooltable or design in the front is in perfect condition.
tokens can go for 1$ and can go for several 1000$... I own around 20-25 tokens. Im close to finishing all the tokens from the J.M. Brunswick era, and almost half way on the brunswick company era. some are VERY VERY hard to find. OF this token, i only know of 2 salloon's that used them in the whole USA, and beeing over 100y old, you do the math
i might never finish my collection, but well.. thats the fun of collecting right?here is a token with a antique pooltable on.
Last edited:
yup this one was for sale on ebay when i posted this. I wanted to bid, but in the last day it was already over 200$ and i had to pass. probably the adress made it so expensive + rarity. there are many other sites on the internet where you can buy them. just google. My best bet would be exonumia trade shows in de states, but being from europe, ebay is my only option. i come across one I need around once every 4/5 months.
if you are interested in them, i would recommand to buy : TAM's JOURNAL, the edition about brunswick. i can look up the exact name and issue if you want.
Last edited:
WOW. Great find. Thanks for sharing.
The token is one of the many produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Co., or BBC. Sometime around 1874 they started selling tokens to businesses. They may have produced some of these tokens themselves, but many of them were produced by other companies. The least expensive tokens were those with the company's stock reverse that listed the company's name and usually a picture of a pool table. This was an effective means of advertising the BBC name as well as the local establishment. BBC also sold custom tokens without mention of their company name at a higher price, but these are not distinguishable from those of other manufacturers.
the reason behind the tokens.
read this page: http://www.chicagocoinclub.org/projects/PiN/cut.html
brunswick made these trade tokens from the late 1800 till early 1900
There are tokens from each stage of brunswick (before H collender and Julius Balke joined). this is one of the earlyest and rarest of them all.
The tokens are worth something: 5cent, 10cent, a sigar, a free drink, or other things. People used to gamble with them in the poolhalls. each put up a token, and the winner gets them. this way if you are a good player, you could play and drink all day using these tokens to pay for it.
I'm not a big token collector at all, but I bought one to add to my brunswick collection, then bought another, bought a book about it, and... well needsless to say im trying to collect one token of each reverse from all the different periods. even if most collecters are interested in the origin of the token (salloon name, state etc), i dont mind collecting mavericks, as long as the pooltable or design in the front is in perfect condition.
tokens can go for 1$ and can go for several 1000$... I own around 20-25 tokens. Im close to finishing all the tokens from the J.M. Brunswick era, and almost half way on the brunswick company era. some are VERY VERY hard to find. OF this token, i only know of 2 salloon's that used them in the whole USA, and beeing over 100y old, you do the math
here is a token with a antique pooltable on.
If I was going to guess I'd say that was from Chicago Il.
my wife would be happy if it was only tokens Joey...
i collect many brunswick items. My only restriction is : NO antique brunswick tables.. they take up to much space
From antique cuemaker tools to brunswick rail counters.I'd have to take some time (and a new camera) to post some of my collection. i got some very cool unique items. for the moment we only live in a small rented appartment, so much is just stocked safely away, gaining value away of light and smoke. It all started as a cool way to invest money instead of leaving it in a bank (lucky i didnt do that, with the current economics), but now i love my items WAY to much to sell them
As soon as we found the right house, ill build the pool-room and there will be one big wall with all my pool antique's nicely exposed in windows in the wall.
My own little poolheaven.
(ps yes i'm a pool addict.)