Showroom for african tokens

Started by Marcisharki, November 21, 2010, 05:33:25 PM

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Figleaf

What was it used for? Company cafeteria?

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

Marcisharki

Hello Peter,

I am afraid that I cant tell you. :(  I presume that this token was used for buying things in their shops,
or as you guessed, in the staff canteen. Unfortunately there is virtually no literature about the
the tokens of Angola...

kindest regards

Marc
A token a day keeps the Doctor away !

Marcisharki

Hello again,

my guess with the "V" being "valide" on the SIGP token from Mauretania, is wrong !

I was able to aquire a second token from the same company with a denomination 50 c.
This token has an "H" over the 50 ! Our guessing will have to start again   :P ......

This one is made out of a zinc/nickel alloy, weighs 2,2 gr. and has a diameter of about 24mm

best wishes

Marc
A token a day keeps the Doctor away !

Figleaf

Elie shows no countermarks. Re-thinking the issue, I took into account that H and V are too far apart in the alphabet to be codes. I can't think of any fitting French word for the H. While they might denote different establishments, Elie mentions only Port-Etienne and there are no fitting names along the coast. My best guess is that they are initials of names, e.g. Henri and Victor.

Seeing that more counterstamps exist (so this is not a cafetaria token) and that the emitting company deals in fish, a further guess would be that the tokens would be used for fish processing or maybe unloading. The labourers would be paid with the token for unloading or processing a certain quantity of fish. The tokens could be converted in either cash or goods. The countermarks would be applied to separate production units under different supervisors (my imaginary Henri and Victor).

All speculation, of course.

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

Marcisharki

Hello  :)

@ Peter - Thanks for your contribution.. ;)

I was just about to start off with the tokens of Namibia, when I suddenly saw that  I completely forgot
the tiny volcanic islands of Sao Tome and Principe which lie in the Gulf of Guinea about 150 mi (240 km) off
West Africa. Sao Tome and Principe, believed to have been originally uninhabited, were explored by Portuguese
navigators in 1471 and settled by the end of the century. Intensive cultivation by slave labor made the islands
a major producer of sugar during the 17th century, but output declined until the introduction of coffee and cocoa
in the 19th century brought new prosperity. The island of Sao Tome was the world's largest producer of cocoa
in 1908, and the crop is still its most important. As Sao Tome is covered by a dense mountainous jungle, it was
very difficult to transport the harvested goods to the ports. As there were no roads,  all goods had to
be transported by foot on the backs of the workers. As a compensation, each worker received a token with which
they could buy food and other goods in the local stores.

Here is one of these tokens. This one is made out of aluminium and has a diameter of 29 mm

best regards

Marc






A token a day keeps the Doctor away !

Figleaf

Nicely preserved specimen. At least the use of this one is clear. Bom Retiro (good retreat) might be the name of the farm, which would make Fiado a family name?

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

Marcisharki

Thanks Peter ! ;)

I am not quite sure about Bom Retiro being a farm. I know that Bom Retiro is a small village
in the district of Me-Zochi on the island of Sao Tome - but maybe you are right , it could also
be the name of a plantation ...

Here are 2 other tokens from the same "farm".
One from 1893 and the other also from 1904. Why they had 2 different tokens with the same date
(Aluminium and brass) I dont know. I presume that they required more tokens and that the new
tokens (Aluminium) were minted abroad....

best regards
Marc
A token a day keeps the Doctor away !

Afrasi

Quote from: Marcisharki on February 06, 2011, 04:45:32 PMI was just about to start off with the tokens of Namibia, when I suddenly saw that  I completely forgot the tiny volcanic islands of Sao Tome and Principe which lie in the Gulf of Guinea about 150 mi (240 km) off West Africa. ...

Now I wait nearly six years for the tokens from Namibia.  :'(

MORGENSTERNN

#53
Hello,

Here some more African tokens :

1 - Sénégal : all denominations, one for each location : 5 centimes Kayes (Niger+Burkina+Mali) 10 centimes Dakar - 25 centimes Rufisque - 50 centimes Dakar - 1 franc Ziguinchor
2 - Algeria : 5 centimes for each town : Alger - Bougie - Bône - Oran - Constantine
3 - Ethiopia : 1/16 piastre Dire-Daoua and Djibouti : 5 centimes - 1 franc
4 - Gabon and Middle Congo : Elephant token
5 - Réunion : 5 centimes - Grande Comore : 25 centimes (one coin alignment the other medal alignment) - Madagascar : 1 franc (gold mine)



Figleaf

An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

Afrasi

Thank you for sharing! There are 4 pieces I still miss in my collection.
Kayes is a town in Mali, the former French Sudan.

My newest one is this badge from Congo-Brazzaville (22.3 mm):

MORGENSTERNN

Quote from: Afrasi on January 16, 2017, 08:11:55 PM

Kayes is a town in Mali, the former French Sudan.


Yes the territory "Haut-Sénégal et Niger" was composed of Burkina (Haute Volta) + Mali + Niger
but I don't know if those token only circulate in the Kayes city or in all the territory...
Same question about the cities from Sénégal : were the token only accepted in the mentioned city or in all the country ?


Afrasi

I always thougth these were used locally, perhaps extended so far as the market visitors come from. But I may be wrong of course. Would be interesting to know more about the range of the use of this tokens/coins in France

MORGENSTERNN

Quote from: Afrasi on January 19, 2017, 06:36:59 PM
I always thougth these were used locally, perhaps extended so far as the market visitors come from.

I think they are too much close (same obverse, design and weight) to be easily differentiate especially when worn and I also think that much of the users can't read so they could be used in a larger scale.

About the range of the use of this tokens/coins in France I think they were only use in the city or sometimes the region inscribed on them because they are more different in shape and design than Senegal issues (the Algerian tokens are also easier to differentiate).
Some other were in use in all the country (listed in Krause for example 2 Francs KM-877).

My guess is that the African merchants were peddlers going from town to town and European or north African owns shops (but we need confirmation)

Afrasi

Quote from: Marcisharki on February 01, 2011, 10:29:59 PMWell , here I am again ;)
Here is my next token from Angola.
An aluminium token with a diameter of 30 mm with a hole in the middle.
On the front "Hans Lind, Cambumba" with a blank revers.
Can anybody help ?  :-\
The only thing I found is that Cambumba is a town in Angola and Farm
called "Fazenda Cambumba"which is devoted to agriculture.
Thanks for your ideas !
best wishes
Marcisharki

Peter was right in his answer. This was indeed a truck token. The wages were paid partially in cash and partially in tokens. As the workers often bought only alcool for their money, their wives could buy food for these tokens.