QUERY: SILVER CONDER SLAVE TOKEN

I'm wondering if any E-Sylum folks can provide me with some insight on a silver conder token? I purchased it many years ago, accompanied by a copper Low-54 Hard Times token, from a Florida antique dealer. Balanced on my finger, the conder token then pinged like silver. Their modest cost was thus a no-brainer.

Some years later, Larry Briggs of SEGS performed three specific gravity tests and certified it as silver, a DH-1039-A. While I personally prefer SEGS holders and attribution, I sadly realize that it is not as well respected in the marketplace as the so-called top three. Last year, I had the token tested for alloy content by a Bruker XRF metal analyzer. It tested at 80% silver and 16% copper. (Interestingly, I possess a Civil War era campaign token that tests with identical percentages.)

I recently submitted the silver conder token to NGC. I provided them with the metal analysis results that I obtained, assuming they would confirm same, if need be. It was returned, marked "plated." Without intending to be snide, I'm wondering what readers think of an 80% silver token being called "plated?"

I've spotted some apparently plated (silver/zinc?) conders in the marketplace. I've yet to see one for which any metal content has been determined by analysis. Do any other such Dalton-Hamer provincial token varieties, comparable to my piece in metal content, exist?

This token is fairly well-worn, and I suspect it may have been an abolitionist's pocket piece, perhaps? I'm hard-pressed to think of a more logical reason for its existence and condition .... Readers?

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