Fantasy token...

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Pretty cool...not a real token from decades ago but more of a souvenir.
Still might have a bit of age on it, but not much info about this thing on the net.
I saw a few on flea-bay, also a couple other auction sites and most of them are listed at the $25-$35 range, one actually sold to someone for over $25.
Clueless.
Mine was holed, the others were not so done by an amateur I assume.
Large and brass, at first I thought it was a knockout, rubbing it revealed some letters so then I thought a cattle tag, more rubbing revealed it was a token and a cool find.
A bit of tumbling cleaned it up nicely.

This will make a nice conversation piece, if anyone can give me more info on this thing that would be wonderful.
Finding about the history of our finds is almost as enjoyable as digging up the stuff to me.
Love finding coins and jewelry, odd targets like this are great to keep it interesting out there in the field.

 

[mudpuppy]

Well, it IS Valentines day...you ought to try to redeem it!

Especially if you dont drink or smoke! Quite a find there Pal...you just never know!
Mud

 

[bootyhoundpa]

10 golden girls to assist me? Ya ,that would be a fantasy...lol..

 

[REVIER]

Ok, found a bunch more info.
This might be way cooler than I thought at first.

http://archive.9news.com/news/article/91116/0/Late-attorney-collected-photos-of-prostitutes-lynchings-KKK


Thanks to member on another forum who clued me in big time and led me to do more research, this thing just might have a pretty cool history...and a checked past.


There was an attorney called Fred Mazzulla born in 1903 in Colorado that was a huge collector of a lot of things and many about the old west.
He was kind of shady, one thing he would do is he would steal authentic old west photos when he was a contest judge, keep them for his collection and replace them with copies which he gave back to the original family owners.


This is another scam he pulled, I assume in the 60's when he published this book and might give me an actual age range on this fake thing.



"Mazzulla and his wife, Jo, published several small history booklets which were sold at roadside stops across the state. One, called "Brass Checks and Red Lights," was about Colorado's prostitution industry, and told of brass tokens that were used in the bawdyhouses to pay for various prostitution services. The tarnished old tokens carried such phrases as "good for one screw." Some of them can still be found at Denver antique stores. Family members claim the tokens were genuine, but coin collectors say the tokens were phony. In fact, one of Mazzulla's close friends says she and Mazzulla used to special order the brass tokens from a firm in Chicago. Mazzulla would then "age" the coins by wrapping them in sheets of newspaper and soak them in vinegar. He then sold the tokens for $10 apiece."


He produced many different kinds of these small pamphlets and booklets that he sold with different subjects about local history.
As time went on it became known that neither he nor his wife wrote most of these books, he just ripped off the information and research from other writers.


Real saloon tokens would offer some money off or free drinks, the cost of that other service would never have been a free offer so the experts say that any tokens that say that are always one of two types...Fantasy or Fake.


Fantasy tokens are made and sold as novelties, fake tokens are made to rip off people and this just might be one of his because it mentions Colorado.


The ones he made are not even counterfeit, just figments of his imagination.
Way cool!
Like a Henning Counterfeit Jefferson Nickel, I think I would much rather have a fake like this than the real thing because of the notoriety.


I am not positive this was made by Mazzulla, until I find some actual info with a picture of this thing with his name attached to it I might not ever know, but with a very famous town in Colorado history stamped into it I think this is exactly the kind of fake a guy like this would produce for a quick and easy sale so for now I will lean toward that way of thinking.