I have been following the story on John Kraljevich's 1811-dated "DIOE" token. Great buy John - congratulations. It is interesting how numismatic items lost for years turn up again. I wish I was at home to check my JNT Levick sale of May, 1884 to see if that token was there. When it came to tokens, that sale had everything, and to see how W E Woodward cataloged it.

I should have written last week, but I waited to see what others would say about John Kraljevich's token. Since no one had an opinion, I'll throw out mine.

The style of the leaves and some of the letters/numerals look very similar to what I've seen many times on California fractional gold pieces of Periods 2 and 3. It may be that this token was just a trial piece made by some late-19th Century die sinker to test his punches. The 1811 date would thus be fictitious, too.

I don't believe that there is the least connection between this dime-size item and the gold dollar-size and smaller California gold pieces. I agree with Henry Chapman that it is of the 1835-1840 period because of the German silver/Feuchtwanger composition. Since it is dime size, I take the inscription to be intended for ONE DIME, either very badly punched in or deliberately blundered to avoid problems with the Treasury Department after the suppression of Hard Times tokens in 1838.

Perhaps the snake and 1811 is a tavern sign, which would be recognized by its patrons. If this token is ever to be attributed, we will need to find what part of the country (as exactly as possible) it comes from. Rural New York is a good place to start.