Today's Balance: Erotic Token, Eagle token, 1948-S Wheaty

Found a rare vintage erotic token along with an eagle token. Same Hole  . The erotic token is too exxxplicit to show in Thunting, but I'm showing fragments of it to leave an idea. The same token can be seen online and there is only one website that sold it for $10 (sorry, sold out) under professional/friendly erotic token. The eagle token, although a standard one must be as old as the erotic one.   The 1948-S wheaty was found hours later. No silver today, but much better day than yesterday. Tomorrow will be better  

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		Quote:			Posted by wolfy
	Those tokens are hilarious, does your token have a zodiac sign ? I have found two one Libra / Professional and Aquarius / Humanitarian with those funny images.  Good score !!! Wolfy

Hi Wolfy! No, mine is from the Pose Series, not the Zodiac series. Same producer though. Hey you found Libra, my zodiac sign. Cool! 

Posted on: May 20, 2011, 10:57:10 PM

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I found some interesting information about Erotic Tokens from

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EROTIC TOKENS - EXOTIC TOKENS - NAUGHTY TOKENS

We've received a number of emails interested in and inquiring about the exotic tokens/erotic tokens listed here.  Erotic Tokens or Brass Checks (or cheques) were most recently (typically) used by entertainment emporiums as ‘good for’ some service, typically an entry to a show. The majority of erotic tokens (also known as 'burlesque', 'adult' or 'exotic' tokens) I have listed are likely from the early 1970s and would have been used in peep show arcades, usually in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.  We purchased an estate lot via a dealer from Santa Cruz, Ca where a woman collected these coins in the late 1970's and early 1980s.  Based on her inventory and pricing we established a basic, if imprecise, determination on the relative rarity/value of these tokens. 

"Good For" tokens, even ones for erotic service, have been around for many centuries. The Romans called them Spintriae

See some examples here:

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The Romans produced about 13 distinct and different styles of these erotic tokens, their exact use has not been written down for our benefit, and one can only speculate regarding their particular use or value.  The reverse of these tokens typically had a roman numeral.  Modern erotic tokens have incorporated these designs; often the obverse of the modern token is one of the thirteen original designs and the reverse represents one sign of the zodiac - a fitting pattern since the zodiac has twelve symbols and well matches the number of the 13 original obverse designs. 

Erotic tokens are just a subset of “good for” token. These chits substituted for currency. In many boom towns on the frontier actual coinage was in short supply.  Hence, merchants would use issue tokens good for trade in their store.  These also served as coupons and advertising.   Also, use of privately issued coinage would enable the merchant to minimize or even evade paying taxes.  Brothels have always been a good place to launder money for services and avoid the taxman.  The IRS actually operated a brothel that it took from Joe Conforte for tax evasion, once in the 1980s and once in the 1990s.  Tokens tell a fascinating tale of mercantilism.

 We currently have in stock one brothel token (The Den - Goldfield, Nv) and have seen many more.  Eventually the public brothels disappeared from most towns (expect in Nevada) and the tokens lived on through use in the peep show machines of the early 1900s, and later, the adult bookstores.   Beginning in the 1980's the bookstores began replacing machines that accepted tokens with machines that only accepted dollar bills.  Hence, the use of erotic tokens has stopped, by and large, and are therefore no longer being produced and have become obsolete. 



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Did u notice all the couples on them coins were Smiling        

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"Keep Digging Its Down There Somewhere" Treasure Hunting, Gold and Coins.

Tokens are always cool and a unique piece of history !

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"Keep Digging Its Down There Somewhere" Treasure Hunting, Gold and Coins.

From the land of the Bluenose.....lol!  Were you digging in
the red light district or a funny farm area?  neat finds me bouy!

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