AUG. ZIESEMER – Maverick | Member-Written NOW Articles

I have been collecting Trade Tokens since about 1960. As most token collectors are aware, a Trade Token with just a person’s name - or something similar - without the city or state stamped on it, is referred to as a Maverick.

About twenty years ago I purchased a small group of tokens from a person in Omro, WI. Among them was a brass token with a scalloped edge measuring 27mm. The token is struck as follows:

Obverse: AUG. ZIESEMER / 143 / 10th ST.

Reverse: GOOD FOR / 5c / IN TRADE

This token is certainly considered a Maverick and was not listed in any reference. However, the ‘143’ and ‘10th ST.’ offered an intriguing place to start research into who AUG. ZIESEMER was, and from where his business was located.

Years went by without much luck, but eventually – sometime around 2015 – someone listed this piece in the Token & Metal Society (TAMS) Token Catalog determining that it was from Oshkosh, WI.

I decided to follow up and get some additional information from the Oshkosh Public Library. The only thing I located was a tiny sentence in a column entitled ‘For Welfare of City’ in the Oshkosh Daily Northwestern newspaper, Wednesday Evening edition, August 1, 1906:

“Liquor licenses were granted….and to August Ziesemer to conduct a saloon at 143 Tenth Street.”

Bingo! It’s all there! The name, number 143, and 10th Street! I finally had proof positive that this token originated from Oshkosh.

Oregon St. Oshkosh, WI.
Circa 1906. Photo: Osh.Pub.Museum

The saloon was located on the corner of Oregon Street and 10th. Oregon Street was a center of commerce in Oshkosh in 1906, secondary to Main Street. This area of Oshkosh was populated mostly with working-class ethnic families. Many street corners housed taverns, groceries, and dry goods stores. One can imagine this was a choice location for the Ziesemer saloon.

Unfortunately, further investigation didn’t turn up any more information. Ziesemer is not listed in any Oshkosh City Directory. He is not in the 1900 or 1910 census. There is no mention of him or his saloon in the archives of the Oshkosh Public Museum. He did not advertise in any newspaper and is not listed in Larry Spanbauer’s 2012 reference “Oshkosh Neighborhood Taverns, and the people who ran them.”

Lack of any archival evidence hampers the attribution of these Maverick tokens, but sometimes you just get lucky!

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