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COAL DOLLARSThe Sept/Oct 2014 issue of the Alaskan Token Collector and Polar
Numismatist (edited by Dick Hanscom) includes an offering of stickered "coal
dollars". I've never collected these, but they are part of an interesting subgenre of
countermarked and altered coins meant to make a political statement. Employers in many parts of the
country did stunts like this on occasion. Have there been articles written on the topic? Any
monographs or catalogs? -Editor
 We purchased a small lot of silver dollars the other day, and there were (10) Coal Dollars. “Coal Dollars” are shrouded in mystery. They show up here in silver dollar lots, usually from long time Fairbanks families. This is the largest grouping we have seen. Based upon what he has been told, Joe Usibelli says in the early 50’s, the Jonesville Coal Co. of Jonesville, near Sutton, paid their employees with silver dollars with the “This is a Coal Dollar” sticker attached. This was to show the impact that the mine had on the local economy. I seem to recall hearing the U.S. military did the same thing with $2 bills. Of the (10) coins, (9) had nice, complete labels. The one with the poor label is shown above. All were Peace Dollars, except the one in the middle above, which is a 1921 Morgan Dollar. One of these sold for $61 on eBay last year. We have sold them in the past for as much as $100. Let’s price them this way: 1) Peace Dollar with complete label - $45 2) the Morgan Dollar with complete label - $55 and 3) the Peace Dollar with an incomplete label - $35. Prices are postpaid. Dick tells me the $55 one has been sold. I've never collected these, but they
are part of an interesting subgenre of countermarked and altered coins meant to make a political
statement. Employers in many parts of the country did publicity stunts like this on occasion. Have
there been articles written on the topic? Any monographs or catalogs? -Editor
For more information, email Dick at:
Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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