Other tokens

Whereas it is easy to include "Hacienda Tokens" and "Mining Tokens" on a Coinage website and, as Pradeau remarked, "Municipal Tokens" were always a response to the lack of fractional coinage, listing “Other Tokens” on a website dedicated to Coinage will always be a difficult decision. In general, it is expected that the token

(a) was used in trade, and
(b) had a specified value, preferably as a unit of currency.

The following pages, classified (and occasionally sub-classified) by state, include

(a) tokens issued by some businesses, either given to employees in the same manner as "Hacienda Tokens" or "Mining Tokens", or to customers,
(b) tokens issued by shops, usually given to customers as a substitute for small change or part of a 'loyalty scheme',
(c) token issued by hotels, cantinas, bars and saloons. These were most often to encourage trade, though it is claimed that some were used for deposits (as with Licores, S. A.) or to reward bar-girls. Most of these come from towns in Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas on the US border with the ones dating to Prohibition arousing the most interest.
(d) ancient transport tokens, usually good for a journey, such as Camioneros de Jalisco. More modern versions have been ignored.

(c) and (d) are included because they have been given an imprimatur by catalogues such as Grove's Tokens of Mexico.

The following pages do not include

(d) tokens for amusement arcades
(e) tokens for vending machines and car washes, and
(f) fantasies, etc.

even when included in Grove.

We have also listed a few tokens celebrating events, such as Porfirio Díaz' visit to Toluca in 1897 or the arrival of the railway at San Felipe, akin to proclamation medals.