(1876) Token Pa-Ph 503, Wood's Museum

Coin Details

Auction Record

$552 MS62BN 11-30-2021 Stack's Bowers

Description

Souvenir token from Colonel Joseph H. Wood's Museum, located at the northwest corner of 9th and Arch Streets in Philadelphia. The obverse adapts the celebrated Libertas Americana medal designed by Augustin Dupré for Benjamin Franklin in 1783, bearing the inscription "LIBERTAS AMERICANA" and the date "4 JUIL. 1776" (July 4, 1776) around a profile of Liberty. The reverse advertises "COL. WOOD'S MUSEUM / N.W. 9TH & ARCH / PHILADELPHIA / 500,000 CURIOSITIES / GOOD PERFORMANCE IN LECTURE ROOM." Wood's Museum was a popular dime museum offering natural history specimens, curiosities, and theatrical performances in its lecture room — a common 19th-century euphemism for an in-house theater. Colonel Wood operated one of Philadelphia's most prominent dime museums during the 1870s and 1880s, competing with the Centennial Exposition itself for the entertainment spending of visitors. The Libertas Americana medal design on the obverse connects this commercial token to one of the most celebrated medals in American numismatic history, lending it an air of patriotic gravitas. Dime museums like Wood's were a uniquely American institution, offering affordable entertainment that blended education and spectacle in a format accessible to working-class audiences. Cataloged as Pa-Ph 503.

Rarity Notes

Scarce. Pa-Ph 503 is the base metal (copper or bronze) version of Colonel Wood's Museum token, accompanied by brass (Pa-Ph 502) and white metal (Pa-Ph 504) varieties. Wood's Museum tokens are collected both as Philadelphia merchant pieces and as examples of the Libertas Americana design adapted for commercial use. The detailed reverse text documenting the museum's location and attractions adds historical interest.

Cross References

Pa-Ph 503; PCGS #525253