Auction is for the three brass or brass coated promotional tokens from1963 Ketchum/Sun Valley Idaho, shown in the photos. They are uncirculated & date to 1963. Per photos, there are some light surface scratches on them. The tokens each weigh about 1/2 oz. & they are 1 1/2" in diameter.
One side of token has a wagon wheel, miner’s pick, & gold pan, & is inscribed IDAHO TERRITORIAL CENTINNIAL 1863 1963.
The opposite side is
inscribed WAGON DAYS SOUVENIR, AUG 23 24 25 1963 ANNUAL KETCHUM IDAHO. It also has an engraving of the Big Hitch
Ore Wagon-train & mules. Those wagons are preserved intact from the 1880’s, in the Ketchum/Sun Valley Museum. The wagons look similar to the 1950’s TV
Death Valley Days Borax Wagons, except this one hauled ore over a high mountain
pass to an 1880’s smelter in Ketchum.
Miraculously, this wagon-train is still in good enough condition to be
trundled through the streets of Ketchum every summer in the still on-going
Wagon Days event.
“The Story.” I grew up in Ketchum, and my father was
one of the active members of the Volunteer Fire Department. For several years in the early 1960’s they
sold similar tokens during the annual WAGON
DAYS EVENT to raise money for the Fire Department. The earlier tokens were inscribed that they
were worth $1.00 in any Ketchum or Sun Valley business during Wagon Days.
The U.S. Treasury Department was bothered by this blatant
attempt to ruin the U.S. monetary system.
Agents warned the Ketchum Fire Department that any further coins
inscribed with monetary amounts would be confiscated, and those responsible
would be prosecuted.
The 1963 Territorial Centennial was a big event in
Idaho. The Ketchum Fire Department
decided to sell Wagon Days coins anyway, without any monetary value on them,
but local merchants would still honor them at $1.00 each. I don’t know how successful the promotion
was, but my father ended up a leftover uncirculated batch. A little bit of Ketchum/Sun Valley history
for you.
I ship within 24 hours of payment, except my local post office is closed on weekends.
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