Auction: 368 - The Numismatic Collector's Series e-Auction
Lot: 463
Collection of Hickey Brothers Tokens: Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Iowa (73): Burlington, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Des Moines, Mason City; Michigan (8). Flint, Lansing; Minnesota (22): Duluth, St. Paul; Nebraska (10). Norfolk, Omaha; Ohio (10). Dayton, Toledo; and Wisconsin (36). Fond du Lac, Green Bay, Madison, Milwaukee, Wausau. In Aluminum, Zinc and Brass. Nearly all, if not all, different. Some scarce. In 1901, 17-year-old William Hickey and his 12-year-old brother Dennis pooled their savings from selling newspapers and opened a small cigar store in Davenport, Iowa. Five years later they opened a second store; and after 10 years they added a cigar stand in the Kimball Hotel. In 1943, store Number 66 opened in Havana, Cuba. By 1951, Hickey Brothers was the nation's third largest cigar store company, boasting at least one store in 68 cities and in 19 states, notably the Midwest. Before the company finally closed in 1957, it had 156 stores. A popular series in Exonumia, Hickey Brothers issued some 461 different tokens. VF-Uncirculated. (159)
Estimate
Starting price
$120