1900 Martha Russian Princess Copper Brothel Checkpiece Kalgoorlie about VF
| We Last Sold This Item For: | $700.00 |
|---|---|
| Last Sold On: | 13/9/2023 |
| # Sold In Past 12 Months: | 1 |
1900 Martha Russian Princess Copper Brothel Checkpiece Kalgoorlie about VF
Obverse: Female figure at centre, legend around
Reverse: Name above address
Composition: Copper with cardboard core
Diameter: 22.00mm | Weight: 1.44g
Mintage: Unknown
This checkpiece reflects a unique aspect of the social history of Australia's gold rushes.
One numismatic item from WA that has a unique place in Australian numismatics is the brothel token issued by the Kalgoorlie madam that traded under the nom de plume of "Russian Martha" - it is the only brothel token that has been issued anywhere in Australia.
Although many rare and historic coins have been issued in Australia, very few can be linked directly to a particular location or person.
An example of this token appeared on ABC TV some time back, the well-known Kalgoorlie identity Leigh Varis had this to say about how these tokens came about:
"What I've been led to believe is that they used to give them to the local barber shop, the guys used to go in and have haircuts, shaves, whatever, buy their tobacco, and then they'd buy a token.
They'd buy the token and then that night they'd go down to the working girl, hand the working girl the token, she would give her services.
The next day they would get up and they would go downtown and they'd give it back to the barber and he would give them their cut"
So just how rare is this token? It is just about the seventh example I've ever seen over the past 15 years, and the fourth I've personally handled.
This particular example feels like it has a thicker cardboard core than the other examples I've handled. The colour is even and the surfaces are reasonably intact - this is no small feat for a fragile circulating medium that is now more than a century old!
SKU: 18244
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