Exonumia - Token Coin Collectibles

Exonumia is basically the study and collection of coin-like objects, which makes it quite a broad category. In fact some of the categories found under Exonumia are token coin collectibles, medallions, arcade tokens, military medals and scrips, to name a few. Of all these categories, Exonumia is often related to token coin collectibles, as it is the most popular collectible under this category.

Token coins are not legal tender, but were generally issued by traders themselves when there was a shortage of actual coins. It was a promise to exchange the token coins for goods and not for actual coins. There are many categories under token coin collectibles as well, including arcade tokens, trade tokens, which were mostly produced between 1834 and 1844 to counter a national banking crisis, staff tokens and currency tokens. Pre-1932 tokens are the most valuable, as these are the original token coin collectibles. They come in a variety of materials such as pewter, copper, aluminum, tin, brass and sometimes in porcelain, Bakelite and leather.

Token coin collectibles are much rarer than actual coins, especially those which were produced to replace coins. An interesting collection in this range is Pogs, issued by US Armed forces for use in far off lands, as shipping heavy coins was not economical. Pogs come in 5, 10 and 25 cent denominations and these are used by the soldiers to buy non-essential items. But collectors do not just look into the past, with fast food restaurant tokens, video arcade tokens and car wash tokens being the more recent version of token coin collectibles.

Older token coin collectibles can be a little difficult to obtain, mostly due to extremely low numbers that they were produced in. The internet is a great source for collectors, both for information as well as for rare token coin collectibles. Joining collector clubs or groups, such as the American Numismatic Association, is a great way to gather information about token coin collectibles.

But before you start collecting, you also need to ensure that you have proper storage for your token coin collectibles. In the case of metal tokens, you need to avoid exposure to air, or humidity. To avoid both, use hard plastic holders for storage. Most collectors make use of albums, which is a convenient storage method, especially for inexpensive coins; just make sure that the surface coming in contact with the coin does not contain any harmful elements. Even though it might be a little hard to collect invaluable items at first, exonumia, or your set of token coin collectibles, will soon become an enjoyable hobby.