Thule-Kap York 1910 25 ore token
This specimen was lot 75316 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice Online Auction (Costa Mesa, CA, October 2024), where it sold for $85. The catalog description[1] noted, "GREENLAND. Thule-Cape York. Aluminum 25 Ore Token, 1910. NGC MS-66. A beautiful and appealing representative, this alluring example yields good luster, with no signs of fault or damage." This is one of a series of tokens, in denominations of five, 25, 100 and 500 øre. They were minted in Nuremberg by Ludwig Christian Lauer. A second series, which included five and ten kroner, was struck in 1932. Numista notes, "These were made for use at the explorer and missionary Knud Rasmussen's established Thule-Kap York trading station, established in 1910. Located in north-western Greenland, Rasmussen named it 'Thule', from classical and medieval literature, meaning of any distant place located beyond the 'borders of the known world'." The town is still there, providing support for the United States Air Force base there, but has been renamed Qaanaaq.
Recorded mintage: 5,000.
Specification: 0.69 g, aluminum, 20.5 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM-Tn6.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Siegs Møntcatalog 2016: Danmark med Omrader, 48 ed., Frederikssund, Siegs Forlag ApS, 2015.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, October 2024 World Collectors Choice Online Auction, featuring the S.P. Rutherford Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2024.
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