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Midwinter Exposition So Called Dime (121372)

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / Exonumia - Medals Start Price:20.00 USD Estimated At:40.00 - 80.00 USD
Midwinter Exposition So Called Dime  (121372)
SOLD
25.00USD+ (6.25) buyer's premium + applicable fees & taxes.
This item SOLD at 2020 Aug 29 @ 12:13UTC-7 : PDT/MST
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Obv.: Midwinter Exposition / (pictorial building) ; Rev.: Liberty Head. Br. rd,. 18 mm.

Date: 1894
Country if not USA:
State: California
City: San Francisco
Provenance: Benjamin Fauver Collection


So Called Dimes or Dime Sized Counters or Small Tokens?
By Paul Williams
Fauver had a box in his collection labeled “So-Called Dimes.” In it were a series of dime sized tokens that fit the definition of the “So-Called” part of “So-Called Dollars.” The tokens are all exposition commemorative pieces, but all dime (18mm) size.
Do We Call Them So-Called Dimes?
The So-Called Dollar term was invented because the medals associated with it are all the size of the most popular US coin of all time- the Silver Dollar. The unintended consequence of a popular coin is that other similar metal pieces will follow of the same size. Why not? Its everybody’s favorite. But So-Called Dimes? Fugetaboudit.
A well known branch of exonumia is the collecting of “So Called Dollars.” Harold E. Hibler and Charles V. Kappen (with Bill Weber) wrote the book 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 necessary to establish the following specific limitations in order to contain our efforts within a manageable perimeter:” The medals in the Fauver Collection here are mostly 18 mm (the same size as a dime.) Each are commemorative from an exposition or commemorative event. While we can imitate the parameters of a So-Called Dollar: 1. United States only 2. Minimum and maximum: 16-20 mm. 3. Looped material is essential as many were made to be worn. 4. No plastic, fiber or similar material because they are metal. 5. No political medals.
That’s enough rules. Most of these pieces are rare but die sinkers are hard to identify. James Murdock Jr. Of Cincinnati sold his medalets at various fairs throughout many states surrounding Ohio. In the 1890s he used a stock die with the entire Lord’s Prayer on the reverse. Several examples are in this sale. The 1876 Centennial in Philadelphia produced a medal with the Prayer on the reverse. Henry Kettle of Birmingham England also produced Lord’s Prayer medals. In America the Lord “Who Art In Heaven” and in Britain the Lord “Which Art In Heaven.”
Wiley W. Osborne bought Murdock’s business so it became the Osborne Coinage Company, a still operating private mint. The collection of collector Benjamin Fauver represented 25 different states, with California being the most prolific.