Good for Two Bushels of Wheat

Sale: Triton X, Lot: 945. Estimate $200.  Closing Date: Monday, 8 January 2007.  Sold For $240. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

GERMANY, Hildesheim (Stadt). Copper Mill Token (8.61 g, 5h). Dated 1658. Coat of arms of Hildesheim; two stars to each side, • 1658 • above / Six wheat grains arranged in three lines; two pellets above, one in center, two flanking lower grain; 16 58 flanking upper grain. Neumann 8488; Mailliet 3. VF.

Hildesheim produced tokens in the 17th-18th centuries to be used by its citizens for purchasing wheat in the town’s mills. Two types of tokens were made: round tokens, which could be used at mills in the city’s old quarter, and square tokens, which were valid in the new city. The oval shapes found on the reverse are wheat grains indicating the token’s value. This token, with six grains, could be redeemed for two bushels of wheat.