Owner Comments:
TOKEN APPEARANCE/CONDITION:
Almost Uncirculated: Details (Improperly Cleaned) — Type II (Brass)
*A gorgeous overall chestnut and sandy blonde specimen; Excellent overall strike of this utterly illusive issue; Handsome and visually appealing. - Fascinating and unique design of this significantly rare issue; not commonly seen. — Questionable grading with the improperly cleaned designation. Light hairlines can be observed; however, they appear to be natural. If truly cleaned incorrectly, it is ever so slight.*
TOKEN BACKGROUND:
Token used at the “Deutscher Theater Verein” in Denver, CO for 5C in trade circa early 20th century.
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The only 5C Deutscher Theater Verein variety is listed by Pritchard as aluminum under Pritchard DE2716 with just 1 known to exist; unlisted in the CMT (Colorado Merchant Token) guide - Designating as Type I. It is very likely this is the only specimen known in brass. Not only is just 1 example of the Type I aluminum variety known to exist, it being unlisted in the CMT guide gives further indication of rarity. The aluminum variety is also listed as having a star on the obverse and “Excelsior / 312 / Live / St. / St. Louis” on the reverse; whereas the Type II brass example shown here does not. What’s even more interesting is the Type I aluminum variety notes St. Louis on the reverse, yet is exclusive to Pritchard’s Colorado trade token guide.
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For cataloging purposes, I have added a sub-letter to distinguish the two, as well as categorized it as Type II. For clarity and context, I have listed the details of each below:
TYPE I: Aluminum, 24mm, Round
OBVERSE: Deutscher Theater Verein / (star)
REVERSE: (Excelsior / 312 / Live / St. / St. Louis)
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TYPE II: Brass, 25mm, Round (Issue Displayed Here)
OBVERSE: Deutscher Theater Verein
REVERSE: 5¢
CATALOG NUMBER(S):
Pritchard DE2716a
CMT (Unlisted)
RARITY: Likely extremely rare; only listed in aluminum. Likely the only known example struck in brass.
NGC Census not available.
TOKEN DESCRIPTION:
(Brass, 25mm, Round, Plain Edge)
OBVERSE: Deutscher / Theater / Verein
REVERSE: 5¢
HISTORICAL TOWN/CITY BACKGROUND:
(Denver, Colorado):
"Industrious people used to pan for gold that washed off the capital building roof until the state put a gold recovery system in to recover gold leafing weathered off the building.” — Credited Source: Stuart Pritchard