Believe it or not.

[brandm24]

While researching something entirely unrelated, I came across these two bizarre looking tokens. I found out quickly that they were issued by the "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" organization, but found no clear purpose for them or when they were issued.

One source claimed they dated to the 1930's, and a second that they were given as gifts to people who bought one of their books in the 1970's. They certainly don't look 1930ish to me and somehow the free gift for buying a book thing doesn't sound right either. My thought is they were either souvenirs sold in their museums...many years ago they were called "Odditoriums"...or were an admission token.

The tokens themselves appear to be copper-nickel with both sides having the same design. No indication of a manufacturer on either one. The two bizarre creatures...Unicorn Man and Lighthouse Man...were exhibits in their museum. I was hoping someone would know something about them.

More on Ripley's history here.      The Strange But True History Of Robert Ripley - Ripley's Believe It or Not!

Bruce

[malj1]

I know of a couple of uniface medalets that were given away with sets of books by Heron books in around 1970-80s

I know of a Charles Dickens one which my mother received and I believe another was J B Priestly.

[brandm24]

That could be the purpose then. I can' think of many other uses for them.

Bruce