(c.1880s) Token NY-NY 430a Bronze The Union Coffee Co. Limited

Coin Details

Auction Record

$100 MS62 12-13-2022 Stack's Bowers

Description

This bronze token, cataloged as NY-NY 430a, was issued by The Union Coffee Co. Limited of New York City during the 1880s. Coffee companies and tea merchants were prolific issuers of trade tokens and advertising pieces during the Gilded Age, using small metal tokens as premiums, loyalty rewards, or advertising vehicles distributed to customers. The Union Coffee Co. Limited operated during a period of rapid growth in the American coffee industry, when branded coffee began replacing generic bulk purchases. The NY-NY catalog designation identifies this as a New York City merchant token within the standard reference system. Bronze advertising tokens from this era provide valuable documentation of the commercial landscape of late-nineteenth-century urban America, recording businesses that might otherwise be forgotten to history.

Rarity Notes

Bronze, NY-NY 430a. Coffee company trade tokens are an active collecting specialty.

Cross References

PCGS #823458; NY-NY 430a; The Union Coffee Co. Limited, Bronze