Description
1953 NEW YORK CITY TRANSIT SYSTEM Train Bus Transit Token **THE HOLY GRAIL**According to TrainWeb, this is the “holy grail” as there are only TWO of these known to exist (1 sold via The Fare Box in 1971, and the other the same way in 1977 – copies of those newsletters are included in photos). This appears to be the third known token. A copy of what is shown on TrainWeb is in the photos, declaring this to be “impossible” to find, and “THE HOLY GRAIL”. We think this is genuinely extraordinarily rare item that is nearly impossible to find!Researching the Atwood-Coffee ID of NY998N (or NY 998 N), there are very few references to this token surfacing. We see that in 1971, it was auctioned off through The Fare Box newsletter. It again surfaced in 1977 in yet another The Fare Box newsletter auction. And, once again, it is mentioned in The Fare Box in January of 1981. The writer at that time acknowledges the sale in 1977, but adds that while this design was made by Meyer & Wenthe, but that a gentleman named Louis Schillner apparently designed the one New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) actually used, but had never seen this rare example made by Meyer & Wenthe. A screenshot of that newsletter is also in the photos for this auction.We contacted Smith & Warren, who wound up with the Meyer & Wenthe badge molds, but they confirmed this morning that they did not see or retain any of the token paperwork or molds/tooling. There was a company in between that may have lost or discarded all of that.Beyond that research, it does not appear that another has surfaced or been offered for sale (at least publicly) since 1981. There’s absolutely no other photos of this token other than on TrainWeb. This seems to affirm its rarity. This token wound up in the hands of a Chicago Transit Authority employee who retired, and then sold his collection to my Dad, who had an infamous Antique Store, Penn-Dutchman Antiques in Lincoln-Square in Chicago. The two went to high school together. Somehow this token was mixed in with thousands of others. My Dad probably had over 100,000 tokens at one point, and he would put out a bin at Antique Shows (like ones at the Arlington Park Race Track) where he’d sell them for 50 cents to a dollar. He’d do deals on handfuls, and most people looked for their hometowns. How it got missed for probably 35-40 years is a mystery, but it took me over 18 months to go through this collection as we’ve been offering them up on eBay, and I had put this one on the side because I couldn’t find it in the normal catalogs. I decided to put a little extra effort into it, and discovered the article on TrainWeb, which makes me think it is truly up to its moniker – “The Holy Grail”. Considering it was minted in Chicago, it is therefore no surprise that this design, which didn’t make the cut, resulted in someone using it in Chicago as a technical counterfeit. That’s my best guess as to the path it traveled, and why it looks circulated winding up in Chicago.We are going to price this relative to how rare it appears, but will consider Best Offers. If you have more information about this token, please let us know. We are negotiable, but want to make sure that this winds up in the hands of persons who value it and will preserve its unique history.Of small note, look at how the NYC font is slightly different than the one ultimately used from 1953-1970. According to that article in the 1981 Fare Box, the person who drew the final design said he never saw the one from Meyer & Wenthe – which makes the similarity something between coincidence and fate. If this does sell for a high dollar amount, we may wish to coordinate secure delivery and perhaps use an escrow service for payment. We are including FedEx Standard Overnight, but we can coordinate carrier and method. The shipment must be signed for by the person who owns the eBay account making the purchase. You can secure the item with your Best Offer and leave payment to be finalized after the purchase commitment.
