March 2006 Volume # 34 Issue # 137 Mary Helen Coal $20 piece Coalgood, KY — Edkins # 609 Scrip Talk 1818 Harper Rd BeckleyWV 25801 403T7 + n32- dsJ&S*. rys . IHGU-SCHfcflLOHCa. ISC-1 1922-1941 PAT. PE MO. Lf5JcUc-scHrcRicnca^ DAY TOM. O. uA rwi ISC‘2 1028*1050 DES. FAT. 75£!5 •V 1921*1933 rAj. PEHD^ MM *2 1134*1941 DES. PAT.7MM ISC1 ISC2 MM1 MM2 ORCO ORCO ORCO ORCOl 1914*1930 PAT. PEND. ORCO *2 te;S*l938 REG.U. S FAt. OFF. ORCO-3 1938-1939 PATENTE0 ORCO’4 1939*1998 BARS- DATE or HO DATE Ol 02. 03 04 ALL COAL & LUMBER SCRIP WEST VIRGINIA MERCHANTS TOKENS CIVIL WAR TOKENS POCKET WATCHES WAR RELICS U.S. COINS & CURRENCY Doug Bumgardner - A.N.A #50786 Kanawha Coin Shop 7 1 2 Brawley Walkway Charleston, WV 25301 Phone: (304) 342-8081 Fax: (304) 342-9401 Web: www.kanawhacoin.com E-Mail: kcs@charterinternet.com **** * *£* * *£* * **£* * *$• **$* The Oldest Coal Company Scrip By Donald K. Clifford I have often heard that the oldest coal company scrip was the scrip issued by Pioneer Coal Company at Malden, West Virginia. Pioneer Coal Company was in business form the mid-1880’s into the 20th century. A recent discovery that I made had led me to believe that this information is not correct. Over ten years ago, a colleague sent me a letter asking for infor¬ mation about West Virginia Civil war tokens from Hartford City; a five cent and a ten cent token issued by Kelly’s Store. His statement was that he didn’t think the tokens were issued during the Civil War because he could find no information about Kelly’s Store in any refer¬ ence books form that time period. He asked me to check other years and see if perhaps these were from later period. After checking all of my available Dun, Bradstreet and Polk Gazetteer listings from 1875 to the early 1900’s I could not find any listing that shows that Kelly was in business during this time. Recently, while visiting the state library, I saw a book on the History of Hartford City, West Virginia, written by Mildred Chapman Gibbs in 1975. She states that on January 1, 1853, Augustus J. Brown purchased 540 acres of land in what was to become later become Hart¬ ford City. This purchase included mineral rights to the coal and salt brine. There were several companies stores established in town, in¬ cluding one operated by Mason County Mining and Manufacturing. The first manager-clerk of the company store was James W. Kelly. Kelly was very well educated and interested in politics. Gibbs states that the company store accepted “script” that was issued by Mason County Mining and Manufacturing Company, which was later called Hartford City Coal and Salt Company. Coal was discovered along the banks of the Ohio River and was easy to mine using slope digging. It was then shipped by barge down : the Ohio to Cincinnati and other industrial cities. The coal was also used to produce salt, which was also shipped to Cincinnati and the meat packing cities. The Hartford City Coal and Salt Company store began to oper¬ ate in the late 1850’s, with James Kelly as the first manager. The name of the store was the Hartford City Store. The scrip issued is known in two denominations: j In Merchandise / Kelly’s / Store / Hartford / City / W. Va. 5 Brass, 19mm In Merchandise / Kelly’s / Store / Hartford / City / W. Va. 10 Nickel Since West Virginia became a state in 1863, the use of this scrip must have been shortly after the statehood, because James Kelly was the first manager. I cannot find any information on the length of this tenure as manager, but history states that he was married and had four children before he left. It also relates that he bought and sold coal lands and made a nice profit. He later became a delegate to the Na¬ tional Convention in 1872. Hartford City, or Hartford as it is known today, was named after Hartford Connecticut, because the owners of the Mason County Mining and Manufacturing Company came from Connecticut. They later established mines at another location that was a few miles up river from Hartford, named New Haven after another Connecticut City. I believe it is safe to say that Kelly’s Store, Hartford City, West Vir¬ ginia scrip is the earliest known example of coal company scrip in the state. Special thanks to Donald Clifford for sharing this article with the NSCA. N. S.C.A. FREE ADS FOR MEMBERS Free Ads arc available to N. S.C.A. members at no charge. The only requirements being that they are limited to 4 lines, one ad per issue. You may send up to four different ads in one mailing. Deadline for Free Ads is three weeks after the postmark of the current issue of SCRIP TALK. All ads received after the deadline will be held for the following issue. No ad will rerun automatically, each issue will require a separate request. Paid ads should be sent to SCRIP TALK Editor and NOT the Free Ad Editor. SEND ALL FREE ADS TO: Steve Ratliff, N. S.C.A. Free Ad Editor, 1717 Saint Marys Bay drive, Milton, Florida 32583-7343 or E-mail Steve@Ratliff.com {Note: * at the end of your ad indicates you need\ to renew it.) ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ COAL TOKENS, WV, KY, TN, AL - WOOD AND LUMBER exploders or powder for trade or| sale. Gene Miller, 3306 Star+an Court, Louisville, KY 40220 + WANTED: KY 409 BULAN TRACE FORK MININS CO. Send price and description to Charles Miller, 200W-900N, Wawaka, IN 46794 ♦ WANTED - WEST VIRGINIA SCRIP - New Kid on the block — Send list of Edkins I.D. to- 1 kens you have for sale. Fine or Better grade only. Include price, bwcok@knology.net Billy Camp- bell, 125 Cambridge Trail, Madison, AL 35758 + GLEN BURN LARGE COAL SCATTER TAG - one dollar and SASE. Leo Schiltz, 196 Crestview Lane, Dyer, IN 46311 + VIRGINIA WANTED: COAL, LUMBER, AND MERCHANT. I'm interested in most anything! from Virginia. Will buy or I may have something of interest to you. John Taylor, 2017 Granby Road, Kingsport, TN 37665 - phone 423-246-9126 + PAYING $2C0.C0 FOR ANY DENOMINATION PAINT CREEK COLLIERIES, Hickory Camp, WV. Paying $150.00 for G. C. Lewis, Mahan, WV Danny Clark, P.O. Box 13, Hugheston, WV 25110 e-mail danny8995@yahoo.com + SALE OR TRADE: TWO DIFFERENT: INGERMANN / MILTON, IND. Trades for Indiana or| best offer. Jack Smith, 5605 W. US Hwy. 52, New Palestine, Ind. 46163 e-mail jack- smithbuck@aol.com + "RED" RIBBLE PANORAMIC COALFIELD PHOTOGRAPHY BOOK - This newly published 11" x 17" coffee table book boasts 400 large format black and white photos, taken from 1919 to 1957, of southern West Virginia miners and coal towns. A tremendous collection of rare historical im-| ages, compiled for the first time. Soft cover; 180 pages. $49.95 + $6 shipping. Coal Memo- ries, 1818 Harper Road, Beckley, WV 25801 304-253-7242 www.coalmemories.com + TOP DOLLARS PAID FOR CARBIDE CAP LAMPS, oil wick/lard lamps, blasting cap tins, scat-| ter tags, and other small mining artifacts. Contact Larry Click, 703-241-3748 or email ELarryClick@aol.com + WANTED: MUHLENBERG COUNTY KENTUCKY COAL TOKENS: Bevier, Brownie, Central City, I Cleaton, Dovey, Drakesboro, Graham, Hillside, Luzerne, Martwick, Mercer, Mud River, Nelson, Powderly. Please contact Rees at: reeskinney@bellsouth.net or 270-338-2291 + TENNESSEE COAL, IRON AND RAILROAD CO. stock certificate, issued 1894, with triple! vignette of train at station platform and miners in iron mine &. coal mine, punch cancelled, $42 1 postpaid. Al Zaika, P.O. Box 65, Bellmawr, NJ 08099-0065 +