MORE ON THE LUCAS SECRET SERVICE

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V21 2018 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 21, Number 35, September 2, 2018, Article 10

MORE ON THE LUCAS SECRET SERVICE

Last week I asked about the company that made this token offered in the Holabird NTCA auction, wondering if it was a private detective agency.

Bill Hyder writes:

The Lucas agency was a private detective firm in San Francisco.

OK, it was a good guess I guess. Thanks for tracking down the ad. -Editor

Michael Wehner of San Francisco writes:

This token was indeed a private detective named Adelbert E. Lucas. The attached two clippings are from the 1915 San Francisco city business directory. This token is not all that rare - I have owned a few. But the very desirable and rarer Lucas token shows a bloodhound. There are a couple varieties with different addresses.

Thanks. I don't know how many private detectives issued tokens, but it sounds like a cool specialty to pursue (just like a detective)! Michael provided a link to the Token Catalog entry for the bloodhound token. Nice piece.

As it turns out, Michael was seated next to me at Bob Evans' talk at the World's Fair of Money in Philadelphia, but we didn't get a chance to meet. Sorry I had to rush in and out! -Editor

Lucas Detective Agency bloodhound token obverse

Lucas Detective Agency bloodhound token reverse

LUCAS' DETECTIVE AGENCY / TEL. / SUTTER 585 / 31 YEARS / EXPERIENCE / MOISE K. CO.
A.E. LUCAS / (bloodhound) / PACIFIC BUILDING, S.F., CAL.
TC-221309; K-1478 *** Albert E. Lucas, opened in 1880, token issued in 1911

To read the complete token listing, see:
San Francisco, California (San Francisco County), U.S.A. (https://tokencatalog.com/token_record_forms.php?
action=DisplayTokenRecord&td_id=221309&inventory_id=223750
&td_image_id=122907&attribution_id=224903&record_offset=7)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
SELECTIONS FROM THE HOLABIRD 2018 NCTA SALE : Lot 195: Lucas Secret Service Token (http://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n34a17.html)

Wayne Homren, Editor

The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com

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