(c. 1868) Token TC-180909 Brass 23mm Fort Bridger, Wyoming Quarter

Coin Details

Auction Record

$178 AU58 12-09-2024 eBay

Description

This brass token measuring 23 millimeters from circa 1868 is cataloged as TC-180909 and represents a quarter-dollar denomination from Fort Bridger, Wyoming Territory. Fort Bridger, established in 1842 by the legendary mountain man Jim Bridger as a fur trading post and supply point on the Oregon Trail, became a United States Army post in 1858 and served as a critical military and commercial installation in southwestern Wyoming Territory. Trade tokens from Fort Bridger are rare and highly sought-after artifacts of the frontier era. The quarter-dollar denomination indicates this token functioned as fractional currency at or near the fort, where official coinage was perpetually scarce. The brass composition and 23mm diameter are consistent with standard merchant token specifications of the post-Civil War period. Fort Bridger's location at the crossroads of the Oregon, California, and Mormon trails made it one of the most important commercial points in the trans-Mississippi West. By the late 1860s the fort also served the construction crews building the transcontinental railroad through southwestern Wyoming. This token documents the monetary needs of a frontier community that relied on local scrip and trade tokens to supplement inadequate supplies of federal coinage.

Rarity Notes

TC-180909 is rare. Fort Bridger tokens are prized by collectors of Wyoming territorial and Western frontier numismatics.

Cross References

PCGS #929229; TC-180909; Fort Bridger, Wyoming Territory; Jim Bridger 1842; Oregon Trail supply point