Sold for A$40
Five Early Trade Tokens: 1. 2s // Gunslers (Young Queen Victoria Head) Cafe / Stokes & Martin. 2. Gunslers Cafe / 1/6 / Collins St // Gunslers Cafe / 1/6 / Collins St. 3. Gunslers Cafe / 1/- / Collins St // Gunslers Cafe / 1/- / Collins St. 4. 2/6 // Gunslers (Young Queen Victoria Head) Cafe / Stokes & Martin. 5. 2s // Gunslers (Young Queen Victoria Head) Cafe / Stokes & Martin. (Melbourne, Victoria). Numismatics. Token. Five small trade tokens. All about 23 mm diameter. 1880s-1890s
N/A. (N/A). J. F. Gunsler arrived in France in 1873 and soon after got into the catering business. Gunsler opened the Cafe Gunsler in new premises in Collins Street in 1879. By 1893 this Cafe was being advertised as "Late Gunsler's", therefore these tokens must date to the early 1890s at the latest! I didn;t know that these came in four denominations! They rarely turn up for sale so not sure I have seen this many in one place before. The 2s example have a silver look to them, but there is a bit of wear to this plating revealing a brass look underneath. The 1/6 and 1/- examples have a brass look to them and the 2/6 example looks more like copper. They all have discolouration, some minor scratches and the odd tiny knock mark, but wear in general is minimal. A great selection of historical tokens from this early Melbourne institution, we have never sold one of these before, let alone 5 in four different varieties! Estimate: $100-150
