Learn About the Three Varieties of Mott Tokens
This is yet another mysterious colonial token. It is debated as to whether it belongs in colonial coin collections, yet it appears in most nearly complete collections. While it is dated 1789 (the year of George Washington’s inauguration), it is believed to have been struck as late as 1807. It is actually a commemorative of the founding of the Mott Company and we freely used it as storecards of the firm, which was located on Water Street in New York City. Even which side of this token is considered the obverse is up for conjecture.
I shall assume that the side with the name of the firm is the obverse. The obverse depicts a spread-wing bald eagle with an American shield breastplate. The eagle is holding an olive branch in one talon and arrows in his other talon. The date “1789” is positioned above the eagle while around the rim is the legend: “CLOCKS, WATCHES, JEWELRY, SILVERWARE, CHRONOMETERS.”
The reverse has a regulator clock with the legend around the periphery: “MOTT’S N.Y. IMPORTERS, DEALERS, MANUFACTURERS, / OF GOLD & SILVER WARES.”
There were three major types of Mott Tokens – a thick planchet variety, a thin planchet and a variety (struck on both thick and thin planchets) with an engrailed edge all around it.
The eagle is very similar in style and appearance to an eagle appearing on US gold coins of 1838-1840 which caused speculation that the date on these tokens was backdated. This caused debates among numismatic scholars for more than 30 years. There is still no definitive proof as to whether these tokens were contemporary to 1791 or came about 40 years later. But these tokens have appeared in colonial coin collections for two centuries.
The number of tokens that were struck is unknown as are the numbers struck of each of the three distinct types. The exact number of existing specimens is not known but it is likely 250 to 500 coins based on current prices. These tokens were regularly used in commerce, as most examples are in a heavily worn, lower circulated state but a few Mint State examples are known and expensive.
| Date | Type | Mintage | VG Value | Unc Value |
| 1789 | Mott – Thick Planchet | 250 – 500 | $100 | $1,100 |
| 1789 | Mott – Thin Planchet | Included above | $100 | $2,400 |
| 1789 | Mott – Engrailed Edge | Included above | $100 | $3,500 |
Shop now and expand your collection of vintage U.S. coins.
