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trying to ID early copper token

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Naturegirl7

New Member
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Dec 7, 2016
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Hi all,

I found this token hunting along the Mohawk River in Schenectady county NY. It looks pretty early to me, and it's possibly counter struck on a coin as I can faintly make out a '1' in upper right of the photo. The back is totally smooth and diameter is about 1-1/16th inch. Front is stamped 'k-s Kerk'.
I know Kerk is the Dutch word for church.. So im not sure if this token is related to a church or if it's somebody's name stamped on there? I'm not able to find any genealogy on a 'k.s Kerk '... And it doesn't look like any communion tokens I have seen pictures of.
What do you guys think about the age, origin and what this token was used for?
Thanks so much for the help!
 

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First and foremost, welcome from SW Wisconsin.

Secondly, that's a great token and a great find. Great eye on finding the #1. Many Dutch in your area? What size is it?
 
Thanks for the welcome note, glad to be here!
Yep this area was colonized by the Dutch. Token is a little over an inch in diameter, 1-1/16". Fairly thin, about 1/16"
 
The Redbook lists an Albany Church penny which is a similar size but marked in English "church penny". It's a one sided token with the design counterstamped like yours. Apparently were issued to "stop contributions of worn and counterfeit coppers". Yours might be something similar. Listed in Post-colonial issues.
 
photo

Here's the Photo from the Redbook - Looks somewhat similar to yours.
 

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Thank you for the replies. Yes I have read about the Albany church pennies… And this does seem similar, wish I could connect it with a specific church though. Been looking through different names of Churchs and cities in the Netherlands and have yet to find a sure match for K-S.
 
Naturegirl7 said:
Thank you for the replies. Yes I have read about the Albany church pennies… And this does seem similar, wish I could connect it with a specific church though. Been looking through different names of Churchs and cities in the Netherlands and have yet to find a sure match for K-S.
Click to expand...

Good info, I googled it and all I found was an Asian guy on Facebook with the name K S Kerk....so give unto Caesar what is Caesar's LOL
 
Thanks again for the replies. I'll check out those names in findmygrave looks like a good truly free site.
And yes there is that Facebook guy that keeps coming up in google searches lol!
 
Actually the German pronunciation for church is kersch.

macro racer 2, Whites mx5, trx pinpointer
 
Great find! Might not hurt to try someone at the Schenectady County Historical Society or more specifically the Mabee Farm given all of the Dutch history associated with the two. Am I crazy or am I also seeing a "9" in there as well?
 
Wow, nice find and welcome from North Central MA. I can see the 9 also. The pic has good def to it. At 250% it looks like a J at 2:30 and at the end of the 9 there seems to be a design along with one just to the left of the imprint. Wonder what coin it came from. Course, the 9 and 1 might be all that is actual left and everything else was junk on the face of the hammer. Hope those leads help you find the story and date.
 
upstatedetector said:
Great find! Might not hurt to try someone at the Schenectady County Historical Society or more specifically the Mabee Farm given all of the Dutch history associated with the two. Am I crazy or am I also seeing a "9" in there as well?
Click to expand...

ffgrizzley said:
Wow, nice find and welcome from North Central MA. I can see the 9 also. The pic has good def to it. At 250% it looks like a J at 2:30 and at the end of the 9 there seems to be a design along with one just to the left of the imprint. Wonder what coin it came from. Course, the 9 and 1 might be all that is actual left and everything else was junk on the face of the hammer. Hope those leads help you find the story and date.
Click to expand...

Well I'm at work with this thing zoomed in to 250% with my face 2" from the screen and I'm not seeing any 9's, J's or anything else for that matter. :laughing:
 
Best I can do. They may just be marks from the face of the hammer or just "stuff" from being buried. Still a great find.
 

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