A MODERN "GOOD FOR" TOKEN FROM SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV

One of the benefits of collecting exonumia from my region is the ability to get to the source of the matter, so to speak. One such opportunity was recently afforded to me thanks to Dave Schenkman. At the February Nummis Nova dinner, Dave gave me a token of recent manufacture from O'Hurley's General Store in Shepherdstown, WV. The token, good for 1.00, was in a style that did not resemble anything from a major token maker but rather looked locally produced.

Seeing as I work near Shepherdstown, on a lunch break, I drove over to O’Hurley’s General Store to see if I could uncover the story behind the token. Sure enough, I talked to the owner of the store, Jay Hurley, who also happened to be the gentleman who made the tokens. When I first asked about them, he asked if I came to spend it. Considering my interest in tokens and how they were used, this provided me a rare chance to have such a discussion with a token maker as well as issuer.

The story he told me is that about 15 or so years ago, he and a local blacksmith had some scrap brass leftover from a recent metalworking job. They commented to each other that the metal looked very close to gold and that they should make some "gold coins" of their own.

The blacksmith cut the dies by hand and they modified a steel press/punch to strike the tokens. He said they struck one batch of about a hundred tokens. Hurley still has the dies but they were buried in a cabinet in the back and couldn't get to them easily when I visited.

The tokens were good for 1.00 and Hurley used to hand them out every once in a while. Such stories about similar tokens from the past are now lost forever, so I particularly value the chance to record these tales.

Jay Hurley and his coin press

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web