A number of readers responded to the question about the term "MEX" on the 1890 Danish West Indies 3 Cent token. -Editor

"Regarding the St. Thomas (Danish West Indies) tokens with MEX in the legend: My understanding, going back many years, is that the series of tokens issued by various businesses in St. Thomas were based on the Mexican Dollar (Peso). As many Mexican Pesos were in circulation on the island the tokens were valued as the Mexican coins which were based on a silver standard, thus preventing a loss to the merchant. Indeed a few tokens issued by A. Burnet and O. French & Co. were countermarked 'MxSlr'."

"With reference to the recent post concerning this token, the term "MEX" stands for "Mexican". At the end of the 19th century, the Mexican peso had become the standard of exchange in many Caribbean countries, where it and its subdivisions were accepted as a means of payment (Puerto Rico, Haiti, Dominican Republic, etc.). A commodity traded as any other, the Mexican peso was bought and sold at prices reflecting the price of silver on the international market. This Russell Brothers token was accepted by the issuer for the equivalent of 3 Mexican peso cents of merchandise."

"The abbreviation MEX on the Danish West Indies token is for "Mexican", indicating that the token is denominated in Mexican dollar (silver peso) cents and not in gold dollar cents. This is explained in: The Colonial Coinage of the U.S. Virgin Islands by Lincoln W. Higgie, Whitman 1962. The token is described and pictured as number 447 on page 40."

"I didn't respond a week ago because I thought it was a softball! Sometimes the obvious answer is actually the right one. MEX is short for Mexican. Here's an excerpt from Lincoln Higgie's The Colonial Coins of the U.S. Virgin Islands, page 30: Since many Mexican silver pesos circulated in the islands, it was necessary for the merchants to make change in coins which would not exceed the exchange value of the Mexican Peso which was offered in payment. This need was filled by tokens which were valued after the Mexican monetary system, thus preventing a loss to the shopkeeper. Other tokens in the 1888-1892 series use the abbreviation MEXIC, MxSlr (Mexican Silver), or fully spell out MEXICAN TOKEN."

"Combining numista.com and tokencatalog.com , there are 2, 3, 5, and 10 cent MEX tokens from 1890.

"For the 10 cent token:

"Higgie# 451, Lincoln W. Higgie; 1962. The colonial coinage of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Whitman Publishing, Racine, Wisconsin, United States.

"SIEG# 48
Jan Bendix; 2017. SIEGs Møntkatalog Norden : Danmark, Slesvig, Nordborg,
Glu¨cksborg, Plo¨n, Gottorp, Dansk Vestindien, Trankebar, Færøerne,
Grønland, Island, Norge : private mønter fra Færøerne,
Grønland, Dansk
Vestindien og Christiania. SIEGs Forlag, Fredrikssund, Denmark."

We've certainly got a consensus on that topic! Thanks, everyone. -Editor