Token and Medal Society

The Token and Medal Society, commonly known as TAMS, is an American numismatic organization focused on exonumia—the study and collection of items that resemble or relate to money but are not conventional government-issued coins. Its interests encompass a broad range of material, including commercial and transportation tokens, Civil War tokens, Hard Times tokens, medals, trade pieces, and other privately or institutionally issued objects. The society also supports research into so-called maverick pieces, whose issuer, location, purpose, or date may not be readily identified. TAMS was founded in Detroit on November 19, 1960, during a period when organized numismatics was expanding beyond the traditional study of circulating coins and paper money. Among its founding members were prominent American numismatists Q. David Bowers, Clifford Mishler, and Russell Rulau. The organization was formally incorporated on April 8, 1966, establishing a more permanent institutional structure for its activities and publications. The society serves collectors, researchers, dealers, and specialists interested in the historical, artistic, commercial, and technical dimensions of tokens and medals. Its subject areas include objects made for transportation systems, businesses, municipalities, events, financial institutions, fraternal bodies, military purposes, and commemorative occasions. Because many exonumia items were produced in limited quantities and circulated only within a particular locality or organization, their study often requires specialized knowledge of local history, manufacturing practices, inscriptions, imagery, and archival sources. A central part of TAMS's role is the exchange and preservation of specialist knowledge. Since its beginning, the organization has published the TAMS Journal, a bi-monthly periodical containing research, discoveries, attribution work, collecting information, and society news. Issues published from 1961 through 2015 have been digitized and made available through the Newman Numismatic Portal, while later issues are available through the society's own website. This publication record gives the society an enduring documentary role in American exonumia research. TAMS also maintains an annual meeting and awards presentation held in conjunction with the American Numismatic Association's World's Fair of Money summer convention. These activities provide opportunities for members to meet, present research, recognize contributions, and discuss developments in the field. From 1983 through 2010, the society issued medals commemorating its annual meetings. Rising production costs led to the 2010 issue being the final medal in that series. Unlike a consumer-facing commercial brand, TAMS is primarily a membership, educational, and research institution. Its value lies in specialist community-building, publication, historical documentation, and the preservation of knowledge about objects that are often overlooked by mainstream monetary history. The society's continuing website and journal access indicate an ongoing role in the numismatic community, although detailed information about its current officers, membership size, finances, and organizational operations is not established in the supplied reference material.

The Token and Medal Society emerged from the growth of specialized numismatic collecting in the United States during the mid-twentieth century. Its field, exonumia, includes tokens, medals, trade pieces, and related objects that are not ordinary circulating coins but nevertheless carry monetary, commercial, commemorative, institutional, or historical significance. These objects can document local transportation, business activity, public events, military life, political campaigns, fraternal organizations, and other aspects of social and economic history. TAMS was founded in Detroit on November 19, 1960. The founding group included Q. David Bowers, Clifford Mishler, and Russell Rulau, all figures associated with American numismatics. The society's creation provided a dedicated organization for collectors and researchers whose interests extended beyond federal and state coinage. Rather than limiting itself to one category, TAMS developed a broad remit covering Civil War tokens, Hard Times tokens, subway tokens, medals, and many other forms of exonumia. The organization was formally incorporated on April 8, 1966. Incorporation gave TAMS a durable legal and organizational framework as it developed its publications, meetings, and member activities. A major part of that development was the TAMS Journal, a bi-monthly publication issued from the society's earliest years. The journal became a vehicle for specialized research, descriptions of newly identified pieces, attribution studies, collecting guidance, and communication among members. Its long publication history also reflects the fragmented nature of exonumia, where individual pieces may require local records, manufacturing evidence, historical newspapers, and comparison with related objects before they can be properly understood. One area of continuing specialist interest has been the study of maverick tokens and medals. These are pieces whose origin is unknown or uncertain. Identifying them may involve interpreting an inscription, examining a design or metal composition, comparing die characteristics, or connecting the object with a business, event, municipality, or organization. By encouraging this work, TAMS contributes to the recovery of historical information that may not be available through conventional coin references. TAMS has maintained an annual meeting and awards presentation in conjunction with the American Numismatic Association's World's Fair of Money summer convention. The arrangement places the society's activities within one of the major recurring gatherings of the American numismatic community. Meetings and awards provide a venue for research exchange, fellowship, and recognition of contributions to the study of tokens and medals. Between 1983 and 2010, TAMS produced medals commemorating its annual meetings. The series served both as a society record and as a collectible expression of the organization's identity. The 2010 medal was the final issue after rising costs made continuation impractical. This decision illustrates the practical pressures faced by specialist membership organizations when producing limited-run physical items. The society's archival role expanded through the digitization of TAMS Journal issues from 1961 through 2015 on the Newman Numismatic Portal. Later issues are available through the TAMS website. Digital access makes decades of specialist research more discoverable to collectors and historians and helps preserve material that originally circulated primarily in print. TAMS is therefore best understood as an educational and research-oriented numismatic society rather than a conventional product brand. Its historical importance rests on organizing a specialist field, publishing research, supporting attribution, maintaining recurring gatherings, and preserving documentation about tokens and medals. The supplied reference material does not identify current officers, membership numbers, financial information, or a detailed modern governance structure.

• 2015

  Digitized journal archive reaches 2015

  [1]Token and Medal Societyen.wikipedia.org

  TAMS Journal issues published from 1961 through 2015 were digitized and made available through the Newman Numismatic Portal.

• 2010

  Annual meeting medal series ends

  [1]Token and Medal Societyen.wikipedia.org

  The 2010 issue became the final annual meeting medal after rising costs ended the series.

• 1983

  Annual meeting medal program begins

  [1]Token and Medal Societyen.wikipedia.org

  The society began issuing medals commemorating its annual meetings.

• 1966

  Formal incorporation

  [1]Token and Medal Societyen.wikipedia.org

  TAMS was formally incorporated on April 8, 1966.

• 1961

  TAMS Journal begins

  [1]Token and Medal Societyen.wikipedia.org

  The society began publishing its bi-monthly TAMS Journal, creating a continuing forum for exonumia research and member communication.

• 1960

  Society founded in Detroit

  [1]Token and Medal Societyen.wikipedia.org

  The Token and Medal Society was founded on November 19, 1960, with Q. David Bowers, Clifford Mishler, Russell Rulau, and other numismatists among its founding members.

A specialist American numismatic society positioned around research, collecting knowledge, publication, attribution, and preservation of tokens, medals, and related exonumia.

• Numismatic publication · 1961

  TAMS Journal

  The TAMS Journal is the society's bi-monthly publication and its principal research-oriented information channel. It covers tokens, medals, exonumia attribution, collecting subjects, discoveries, and society activities. Historical issues from 1961 through 2015 have been digitized through the Newman Numismatic Portal, while later issues are available from the society's website.

• Commemorative medal · 1983

  Annual meeting commemorative medals

  TAMS issued medals commemorating its annual meetings from 1983 through 2010. The pieces documented the society's recurring events and formed a collectible series connected to its institutional history. The 2010 medal was the last in the series because increasing production costs made further issues impractical.

• 2010

  End of annual meeting medal seriesOther

  Background

  The society had issued annual meeting medals since 1983, but production costs had increased.

  Action taken

  TAMS made the 2010 annual meeting medal the final issue in the series.

  Aftermath

  The commemorative medal program was discontinued after 2010.

  Source

1. 1Token and Medal Societyen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Token and Medal Society official websitetokenandmedal.org