Undated (ca. 1838) Atwoods Railroad Hotel Token. Musante GW-152, Baker-510A. Copper. MS-63 BN (PCGS). 25.5 mm. 68.6 grains. Glossy and fairly uniform deep olive brown with a few small traces of mahogany in places. A few tiny marks are noted but will likely require magnification to find. Well-struck with Washingtons thigh nicely defined, no reverse softness and fairly crisp, full dentils around both sides. A slight edge irregularity near 4 oclock on the obverse reveals the likely presence of a tiny rim clip in the planchet, but even this area is reeded to match the rest of the edge.<p>The Atwoods tokens have long been considered classics, even having been given valuable plate space in early plated auction catalogs, including that of Charles Bushnells collection in 1882. This speaks to the value placed on them at the time; Bushnells was identified as an "extremely rare piece" in the sale text. An unusual number of offerings over the past few years is due to the dispersal of small hoards assembled by John Ford and then Q. David Bowers, each of whom recognized the scarcity and appeal of the type. Presumably, however, once all of those are absorbed into collections, the issue will again be scarce. This is a very nice example that would rank fairly high when compared with most seen in recent years. From the E Pluribus Unum Collection.
