I have already intimated that not merely undue indulgence in drink but the excessive use of narcotics has been attempted to be checked through the means of medals. Indeed these have been made incentives as well as preventives in both cases. In the former the tokens and advertising cards of inns and saloons and even beer and whiskey checks form a special department of numismatics however uninteresting it may seem. And so there can be no doubt that a taste for cigarettes and the pipe has been encouraged by the craze that exists among boys at the present moment for collecting what are called tobacco "tags". As an instance of similar direct encouragement may be cited the following:

395 Obverse Bust of a plethoric old fellow with cigar in hand half facing to left and blowing a cloud of smoke. Legend : No Pleasure Can Exceed | The Smoking of The Weed. Reverse. Within a wreath of leaves a cigar box upon the side of which a crown surmounting the word Regalias. Above, two crossed pipes. Inscr,: Levick 904 Broadway | New York Exergue: 1860 Edges milled. White metal 18

This is in my collection.

The obverse shows a well dressed, happy gentleman smoker half facing left holding a cigar and exhaling a cloud of smoke. At the border is the inscription NO PLEASURE CAN EXCEED / THE SMOKING OF THE WEED. (In 1860, “weed” meant tobacco with no other connotation.) The reverse shows crossed pipes above a tobacco or cigar box with the text REGALIAS surmounted by a crown. Above the pipes is the inscription LEVICK 904 BROADWAY NEW YORK in two lines with the date below. The whole is surrounded by a closed wreath of tobacco leaves. There are dentils on both sides of the token. It was struck in silver (the present piece), brass, copper, and white metal.

Joseph N.T. Levick commissioned George Lovett to design a large group of tokens not only for his tobacco business, but also for his personal collection. Levick was a lifelong smoker who lived to the age of 80. There are many mulings of this famous obverse and reverse with other dies to create rarities for the avid collector, but the above piece is the original advertising card and probably the first group made for Levick by Lovett.