A True "Token Economy"

Beverly Hills Coin Club's Tokens Are Selling Well
By Craig Anderson

Over the past year, we've received several emails from members about the BHCC Tokens "selling well" on eBay. After doing a quick search on eBay, I immediately found a recent example, detailed below this article. The vendor started the bid price at our selling price of $9, and then it quickly rose to $12 and was won for $12.50, plus $5 for postage and handling, total cost was $16.50. This is almost twice the club's selling price of only $9, postpaid. .

Club regulations permitted the selling of the tokens only to members until the end of 1987. Beginning in 1988, BHCC would sell the tokens to non-club members, but with a limit of five of each per collector or dealer, and only in sets @ $18 per set. Of the original 500 pairs minted, 323 of those sold immediately to members at $18 each after they received an emailed notification of the token's availability. The club has kept two sets on hand for their future Museum project, and 18 sets on hand for future donations to other Museums.

Issued in 2007 to commemorate the 1987 founding of the Beverly Hills Coin Club by actors Buddy Ebsen and Chris Aable. Both founders met at local coin shows and also shared membership in the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. There were only 500 minted of each design. The 1795 Liberty Cap $5 Gold and the 1793 Wreath Cent. Both are almost exact duplicates of the original coin, and struck on Sterling Silver planchets that weigh about one third of an ounce. The Gold example is plated with six layers of 24k gold and the Copper example is plated with six layers of copper. Each token has a "face value" or redemption value of $20 each. Such tokens are commonly classified as "Good For" tokens, and $20 is among the highest value ever place on a token that can actually be redeemed to the issuers as well as some of their dealer sponsored advertisers on their website..

Members may redeem the Tokens for $20 for books, services, membership renewals or upgrades, or any other services. So far this year, only seven have been redeemed, all for membership upgrades, with 25 others selling to non-members and dealers. As of May, 2008, this leaves only 125 left for sale. Since the mintage is so low, there has been no effort to promote or advertise these outside of our membership, and there has been some talk about raising the price to eBay levels of about $16 each due to dwindling supplies. So if you are a new member who missed out on these last year, or a non-member who happened across this page, now might be a good time to buy some of these.

New members who did not order last year and even non-members can now order the tokens separately for $9 each or $18 for the pair, with a strict limit of five pairs per household.

The $20 face value is also "good for" trade-in at the following dealer-members for the purchase of their coins or supplies, (listed alphabetically):

www.accgs.org
www.bhcoins.com
www.coinhappy.com
www.collectorsinternet.com
www.jeffersoncoins.com
www.pscoins.com
www.777rarecoins.com 
Please note: The above list of dealer-member sponsors may only be partial and/or not up-to-date at the time you read this article.