My father wasn't a collector (so I didn't get the bug from him) but he did decorate his home office with items related to his long time employer, Shell Oil. Mostly it was the sort of stuff you find at Michael's and Hobby Lobby...'vintage' Shell signs, 'antique' miniature Shell gas pumps, that sort of thing. He had a few die-cast tanker trucks as well.
He also kept some of the Shell service station giveaways that we'd picked up through the years. Yes, gas stations used to do that sort of thing. And we always, always, ALWAYS bought Shell gas. That's a habit I have maintained to this day.
I have a few of his items stored away and every once in awhile I come across something Shell related that catches my eye and I grab it if the price is right. This Presidential Collectors coin set hit a couple of my areas of interest. It was an early 1990s item and there are a couple of different types of coins/holder I believe. I have no memory of the promotion at all. I'd have been all over it back then I'm sure.
Anyway the eBay seller listed it as 'complete'. It was dirt cheap and I didn't examine it all that closely before I pulled the trigger on a B-I-N. If you look back at the picture up top you will notice what I noticed as I took it out of the package. Yup, two Teddy Roosevelt coins and no Thomas Jefferson. I wasn't put off much by that. I'd seen the individual coins available so I found a single Jefferson and ordered it for a couple of bucks and then messaged the set seller just to let him know.
As I said I wasn't angry about it. This wasn't an item I'd been 'chasing' or anything like that but I figured the seller should know. He immediately messaged me back with an apology and offered to find the Jefferson coin for me. Then he sent me another message when he somehow found that I had already purchased the replacement and he reimbursed me for the cost of it. He's obviously a good seller who made an easy-to-make mistake. He had packed this thing as if it held the nuclear warfare launch codes.
Here is the Jefferson, front and back. It arrived on Saturday and it's in better shape than the coins in the original set but some bronze clearner will remedy that.
Bottom line is that I ended up with the complete set plus and extra of one of my favorite presidents, Teddy Roosevelt.
Here is the info from the promotion as printed on the back of the coin holder.
And here is how my set looks now with the correct coins in place. I put he ruler there for perspective.
Very cool. I picked up a set of 1968 Presidential Shell coins at the flea market a while back and have zero regrets.
ReplyDeleteNow you've got me thinking. I think I have one of these stashed away some lace at my mothers house. ,
ReplyDeleteHi Robert. I am trying to get information about the 1968 Shell Oil promotion called "Mr. President Coin Game". I collect the tokens and other game material but there just doesn't seem to be much information available about the promotion itself. For example, the starting and ending dates of the promotion, quantity of top prizes available, etc. Do you have any information or materials from your father that might help? Also, the 1992 Shell presidential set had a ninth token in the promotion. It was a silver-colored Instant Winner token that netted a one-ounce Silver Eagle. I can send an image if you're interested.
ReplyDeleteThe 1968 Coin game is one I actually remember. I had my own wheels by then and I would gas up at a Shell station near my high school. I've been through my father's mementos but don't recall anything connected to it. I know I would have latched on to it. I will check with my sister who did the 'heavy lifting' in sorting and distributing all of that.
DeleteThanks for checking. Shell Oil ran multiple 'coin game' promotions concurrently in 1968 through 1970. There was 'Mr. President Coin Game,' 'States of the Union' (two separates versions of that game), 'Famous Facts & Faces,' 'Famous Americans,' 'Man In Space,' etc. They were very popular. Some of the game pieces are worth hundreds of dollars today but are hard to find. I suspect old Shell Oil employees may be sitting on a few!
ReplyDeleteI have a metal presidential coin collection with no identifying marks. Ends at Jimmy Carter but is complete. The coins are fake, lightweight metal, gold in color, and have the face and year on front, and some facts about the Presidency on the back. Any idea where this is from?
ReplyDeleteI have several I would like to sell
ReplyDeleteI have a whole bunch of these they was given to me as a teen and I gave a whole set to history teacher I think they are very interesting, threw the years I still got a bunch of them left very interesting to know they came from gas station back in the 60s
ReplyDeleteI have few of this metal presidential tokens. I got them from my father mostly Lincoln and T.Roosevelt. In good conditions, I'm not sure where they came from and if they have any walue.
ReplyDeleteI have a promotional set from 1992 still in the box that was given to all the reps at a banquet in New Jersey.
ReplyDeleteI have a full set from 1970. does anybody want to buy them? email me at denise4aces@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing. I just found 2 sets that were my Dad's. Upon reading this I looked to make sure the coins. And low and behold 1 set is correct and the other has 2 Thomas Jefferson coins and 0 George Washington. At least I have 1 correct set. I may look for the GW coin so I can have 2 sets and give one to my nephew. They are just nice old commerative coins with no value so no big deal..just a neat keepsake. Thank you, Cheryl
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