McGUIRE BROTHERS, Part 1. HORSE HEAD TOKEN - Historical Albion Michigan

Previously here in our Historical Notebook, I have written about Albion’s major league ball player, “Deacon Jim” McGuire, and the saloon he operated with his brother George here in Albion during the period 1906-15. I have previously written about “GOOD FOR 5¢ IN TRADE” aluminum tokens issued by the McGuire Brothers in my Albion numismatic collection.

This past year I was fortunate to acquire a discovery token issued by this firm which has statewide significance. The only second-known “horse head” token in the State of Michigan has been discovered, and was issued by the McGuire Brothers. The newly-discovered McGuire piece is struck in aluminum in the shape of a horse’s head facing right.

The token measures approximately 3 mm. in length and 22 mm. in width. The obverse features the horse, with textured areas for the mane, nose, ears, eye and other features. On the horse’s neck is stamped a circular token 14 mm. in diameter, the text of which states, “I-O-U 5¢ IN TRADE.” A small hole has been punched in the area of the horse’s ear. The reverse side has a flatter surface, except for the identifying text, “McGUIRE BROS,” and lines for the nostril, eye and underlining below the text.

According to Paul Manderscheid, president of the Michigan Token & Medal Society, this McGuire piece is “only the second known token from Michigan with a horse head design, the other being the token issued by Price & Williams of Battle Creek.” The McGuire piece however, differs from the Price & Williams token, in that it utilizes an “I-O-U” die, while the P & W token states, “We-O-U.”

Manderscheid also states “I’ve seen a few horse shaped tokens by Wright & Son of Cincinnati, Ohio, since they have made a number of very fancy dies, but this is only a guess.

From our Historical Notebook we present a photograph of this most unusual shaped token, which this author obtained from an antique dealer in Quincy. My collection of McGuire Brothers tokens, including this horse head one, took a first place award this past April at the Michigan State Numismatic Society show held at the Hyatt Regency in Dearborn. I will have this exhibit on display during the Festival of the Forks this year, for our citizens to view. I am always looking for tokens issued by Albion businesses for my Albion numismatic collection. If you think you might have any, please let me know.

	Frank Passic — Albion Historian An Albion native and 1971 graduate of Albion High School, Frank Passic has been researching and writing Albion history since 1976. He is the creator of the Albion Historical Notebook, with hundreds of articles appearing weekly in the Morning Star and The Recorder. Frank maintains an extensive personal archive including Riverside Cemetery records, family surname files, genealogies, photographs, city directories, and high school yearbooks. Support his 2026 research at the Historic Albion Michigan Facebook page. Historical Notebook \| From the Archives \| Subject List \| 100 Years Ago \| Alphabetical Index \| Frank Passic Home Page \| Albion History Books \| Contact Frank
	Michigan Prints by Maggie LaNoue Michigan Prints offers limited-edition archival Giclée prints, miniprints, notecards and boxed sets featuring Michigan landmarks, nature, resorts and nostalgia. Each print and card includes a legend on the back with stories about Michigan history. Albion scenes include the Kalamazoo River waterfall and the Blizzard of 1978. Find Michigan Prints online and at local shops. Michigan Prints \| Albion Scenes \| Custom Cards \| Zazzle Gifts
	AlbionMich.net — General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net is a hub for community life in the greater Albion area, featuring current news, city council updates, river restoration stories, parks and trails. See Albion's beautiful Kalamazoo River waterfall as it looks today — and follow the story of its future restoration. Includes news from The Recorder and stories about Albion's 17 parks. AlbionMich.net \| Albion Blog \| Frank Passic on AlbionMich.net
	General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net offers two General Guides to the Albion area — one covering community life including city council, veterans, history, youth and wellness resources, and one covering the outdoors including roads, rivers, parks, trails and downtown. Both guides feature stories by local writers including contributors to The Recorder, sorted by topic for easy reference. General Guide — Community \| General Guide — Outdoors
	Robin James — Indices Unlimited Robin James is the editor of the Albion Historical Notebook and has kept Frank Passic's thousands of articles organized and searchable for decades. A trained librarian and archivist, Robin specializes in back-of-book and online indexing, multimedia collection management, and corporate information distribution. He also enjoys strange music and is a contributing editor for Igloo electronic music magazine. For more about his indexing services, visit Indices Unlimited.
AlbionDesign.com — Communications Specialists Since 1981 \| Advertise on AlbionMich.com