5 Mill

[freemindstuck]

This is a 5 mill tax token. It is made out of zinc. It was about 10 inches down. They were started around the thirties, because when the state governments started sales taxes to support the poor, people didn't want to pay the extra partial cents. For example a 25 cent purchase with a 3% sales tax ends up being .2575. If you round up the customer pays more and if you round down the merchant payed more. So they came up with mills in different currencies you could buy. This one was worth 5/1000 of a dollar.

 

[SeabeeRon]

Great find and great info as well!!

 

[freemindstuck]

Thanks SeabeeRon,

I dug it yesterday and noticed today that it has deteriorated significantly from when I first dug it up. I think this is because it is made out of zinc. It developed whitish yellowish oxidation that made it hard to make out any details on it. So I soaked it in lemon juice for just a couple of minutes, which knocked the oxidation off and coated it with a couple of layers of hair spray. This seems to have stabilized it and the details are clear again.

 

[CODY]

Love those tokens. :smitten: Great find. :congrats:

 

[Mudder]

I love finding coins, but tokens have more history. :congrats: