This is the provisional token from Mercer County, IL. It is listed in the M&D book as number “L61”, held the value of a quarter of a cent at the time, had a rarity rating of R1 at the time of the M&D book and is made of copper.
This is the provisional token from Rossville, IL. It is listed in the M&D book as number “L89”, held the value of a quarter of a cent at the time, had a rarity rating of R5 at the time of the M&D book and is made of aluminum.
The initials “B.M.A.” on the token stand for “Business Mens Association”.
This is the provisional token from Mattoon, IL. It is listed in the M&D book as number “L59”, held the value of a quarter of a cent at the time, had a rarity rating of R4 at the time of the M&D book and is made of aluminum.
This is the provisional token from La Salle, IL and was redeemable at the Chamber of Commerce. It is listed in the M&D book as number “L54”, held the value of a quarter of a cent at the time, had a rarity rating of R3 at the time of the M&D book and is made of copper.
You may notice that this is the first of the Illinois tokens that I’ve posted which has the same front & back.
This is the provisional token from Monmouth, IL. It is listed in the M&D book as number “L65”, held the value of a quarter of a cent at the time, had a rarity rating of R5 at the time of the M&D book and is made of aluminum.
The rear of the token has the text “Retail Merchants Association”.
This is the provisional token from Gillespie, IL. It is listed in the M&D book as number “L41”, held the value of a quarter of a cent at the time, had a rarity rating of R3 at the time of the M&D book and is made of brass.
An interesting thing about this token is that it says “United States Money” on the rear.
This is the provisional token from Hoopeston Chamber of Commerce. It is listed in the M&D book as number “L42”, held the value of a quarter of a cent at the time, had a rarity rating of R3 at the time of the M&D book and is made of aluminum.
I’ve said twice now that the token in question “had a rarity rating of [such-and-such] at the time of the M&D book” because the book is now 20 years old and it’s always possible that the rarity might have changed. Currently, Monte Dean is working on a new book (the 4th volume in his series) which is due out next Spring, and I’m sure that we can expect many of these rarity ratings to be updated.
Our hope is that this series, over time, will help serve as a resource for the new collector. As well, these photos may help remind some of the seasoned collectors about a time in their own history when these “common” tokens seemed elusive.
If you’ve got a story connected to a specific token that we post a photo of, please feel free to take advantage of the “reply” section and tell us your tale, no matter how mundane it may seem to you!
To begin, let’s take a look at the Cambridge provisional token. Listed in the M&D book as number “L8”, it was redeemable at the Lion’s Club, worth a quarter of a cent at the time, had a rarity rating of R3 at the time of the M&D book and is made from copper.
