All About Tax Tokens
Tax tokens are essentially vouchers that represent fractional amounts of the American penny. They were issued to help people avoid overpaying sales taxes. If you’re looking for tax tokens to add to your collection, eBay is the place to shop.
American tax tokensDuring the Great Depression in the U.S., 12 states began issuing tax tokens:
- Alabama - Between 1937 and 1948, Alabama issued both sales tax and luxury tax tokens. They were made of brass and issued in denominations of 1 mill and 5 mills, which were equivalent to one-tenth and one-half of a penny.
- Arizona - Arizona issued tokens between 1937 and 1942. Both the 1-mill and 5-mill pieces were made of copper.
- Colorado - Colorado used 2-mill sales tax tokens between 1935 and 1945. Initially, these tokens were aluminum, but later they became plastic.
- Illinois - Illinois used square, aluminum tokens in the denomination of 1 mill between 1935 and 1946.
- Kansas - Kansas issued zinc 2-mill tokens between 1937 and 1939.
- Louisiana - Louisiana issued luxury tax tokens between 1936 and 1941. The 1-mill piece was made of aluminum while the 5-mill piece was made of brass.
- Mississippi - Mississippi tax tokens were used between 1936 and 1941. The 1-mill piece was made of aluminum while the 5-mill piece was made of brass.
- Missouri - Missouri used green plastic for its 1-mill tokens and red plastic for its 5-mill tokens. The state issued tax tokens between 1943 and 1954.
- New Mexico - In 1935, New Mexico issued a variety of tax tokens in support of its emergency school tax. The tokens were issued in denominations of 1 and 5 mills. They were made out of a variety of materials, including aluminum and colored fiber.
- Oklahoma - Oklahoma used tokens between 1937 and 1941. They were issued in denominations of 1 and 5 mills. They were made out of a variety of materials, including aluminum, brass, fiber, and cardboard.
- Utah - Utah issued tokens between 1937 and 1951. Initially, 1-mill, 2-mill, and 5-mill pieces were made of aluminum, but later on they were made of green, grey, and orange plastic.
- Washington - Tokens were used in Washington between 1935 and 1951. Initially struck in pewter, the 1-mill token was subsequently struck in aluminum and plastic.
Yes, Russian beard tokens are a type of tax token, but they are not sales tax tokens.
How do you determine tax token value?Tokens are valued according to how rare they are. The most valuable tokens tend to be made of perishable materials.