Old Familiar Memories - Photo 166

Tax Token

In 1935 Washington state caused a stir when their tax laws were passed and implemented on May 21, 1935. The US government and treasury department filed suit against the state of Washington claiming the use of sales tax tokens as an assault on US coinage. The governor of Washington refused to back down and the issue was tabled by the government.

Most tokens are inexpensive and fairly easy to come by. All in all over a billion sales tax tokens are estimated to have been produced. Most coin dealers have no idea what to charge for these tokens, Many tax tokens are quite common, and can often be found in coin dealer "junk boxes" for as little as 10 cents. Others tokens are known to be much scarcer, however they too sometimes show up in "junk boxes" from time to time.