U.S. Grant token

Factual Questions
1

I’m having trouble finding the value of a token I have that says “Struck and distributed in the municipal parade by the employes of the U.S. mint/Philadelphia, Pa./Dec. 15, 1879” with Ulysses Grant on the obverse. I figure anything coined by the government should be easy to research, but no luck! Any help?

2

I recently went nuts searching for a historical commemorative medal I wanted, so I’ve been down this road. Medal/token collecting is a pretty small field, I learned – especially compared to coin collecting. Here are the three best leads for your question:

  1. Presidential Coin & Antique Co, 6550-I Little River Turnpike, Alexandria VA 22312; H. Joseph Levine, president; (703) 354-5454; fax: (703) 914-0547; email: JLevine968@aol.com

  2. David Alexander, who is President of the Medal Collectors of America (or something like that); he works at Stack’s, a very high-powered coin shop here in NYC. Stack’s is located at 123 West 57 Street, NYC, NY 10019; (212) 582-2580; fax: (212) 245-5018.

  3. Paul Bosco has a small medal/coin shop on 2nd Ave., also in NYC. Sorry, no address of phone # handy, but I’m sure he’s listed. If not, ask me and I’ll dig it out.

Between these guys, you should find your answer. (BTW, after years of searching I finally found and bought the medal I was searching for at a Presidential Coin auction.)

3

Hey, I just found Paul Bosco’s particulars:

Paul Bosco Medals, Antique Mall (Store #89),1050 Second Ave., NYC, NY 10022; (212) 758-2646 (NOTE: he keeps spotty hours, so you may have to call again or leave a message if you miss him.)

And, one more:

Charles Kirtley, PO Box 2273WC, Elizabeth City, NC 27909, (800) 525-3399 (NOTE: I had no dealings with this guy, so I can’t vouch for his helpfulness or knowledge; but he was reccommended to me in my search. He might prove helpful to you, so I pass along his name.)

Also, I think Presidential has a web site; maybe Bosco, too. Stack’s probably has one, but they’re mostly a coin shop; David Alexander just happens to personally specialize in medals/tokens, so their site might not be too helpful. Dunno.

Incidentally, tokens are considered “exonumia” among collectors, so you might want to keep that term in mind as you do your research.

Again, good luck