ZERO CENTS NO-TIP KOOKIE KOIN

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V24 2021 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 24, Number 2, January 10, 2021, Article 28

ZERO CENTS NO-TIP KOOKIE KOIN

I didn't realize the website Quora was still around. The format is centered around questions that other readers are asked to answer. Like all social media sites, popular topics float to the top, resulting in a lot of clickbait about celebrities. I got sucked in during the pandemic lockdowns and sometimes find myself wasting time scrolling through because every now and then something turns out to actually be of interest, like this one.

This question ended up eliciting a somewhat numismatic answer from one of the respondents: "Have you ever directly told a waiter at a restaurant that their service was no good?" -Editor

Rob Massey responded:

"Many years ago I came across 3 of these coins at a flea market and purchased them. Throughout all of those years I have handed 1 of them to a waiter.

"Now, for years, I have always carried one of these coins in my wallet for just this occasion. Although I really had never planned to use one, the time had come. I informed him that we were leaving and directly provided him with payment in full. That "payment in full" being the coin pictured above.

"He took one look at the coin, front and back. He then said "Pffft", threw the coin on the table, and stormed away.

"So now I carry coin #2 of 3 in my wallet, and hope that I never have occasion to use one of these again."

To read the complete article, see:
Have you ever directly told a waiter at a restaurant that their service was no good? (https://www.quora.com/Have-you-ever-directly-told-a-waiter-at-a-restaurant-that-their-service-was-no-good)

These seem to be plentiful on the internet. I couldn't quite read the tiny copyright notice, but thanks to a search I now know it says "© Roy Morser 1962" Here's a tokencatalog.com entry. -Editor

ZERO CENTS / THIS COIN IS / YOUR TIP / IT MATCHES EXACTLY / THE VALUE OF / YOUR SERVICE / (bowtie) / ZERO CENTS GIVE NOTHING / (hand) / © Roy Morser 1962 / GET NOTHING

TC-272592
TIME MAGAZINE October 02, 1964 ------------- "For grumpy citizens, weary of waiters, cabbies and similarly unappealing personnel who do a fast, sloppy job, then present open, demanding palms, Mendelsohn's in New Rochelle, N.Y., offers a solution. It is a coin that looks like a quarter, feels like a quarter, generally passes for the genuine article until the tipper is safely out of reach. Too late, open, demanding eyes will discover the drawing of an outstretched hand where George Washington should be, and instead of an eagle, the straightforward, gloriously embossed message: THIS COIN is YOUR TIP. GIVE NOTHING. GET NOTHING. ZERO CENTS. IT MATCHES EXACTLY THE VALUE OF YOUR SERVICE."

To read the complete entry, see:
New Rochelle, New York (Westchester County), U.S.A. (http://tokencatalog.com/token_record_forms.php?action=DisplayTokenRecord&td_id=272592)

Here are a couple 1963 references found via Newspapers.com. -Editor

So we know Roy was a Public Relations person, and apparently a pretty good one. These were called "Kookie Koins". Can anyone fill in more of the backstory? Why exactly did he create these? Where were they made? Who owns the copyright today? Thanks. -Editor

To read a related earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: OCTOBER 13, 2019 : Zero Cents Political Parody Coin (https://www.coinbooks.org/v22/esylum_v22n41a11.html)

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

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