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Smithsonian sunburst Smithsonian National Postal Museum
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Piqua Owney tag

Object Details

Description
Owney received this token from someone promoting Ohio tin manufacturing. The token is in the shape of a tin plate, much like the ones presented to the country by William McKinley (then running for governor of Ohio) as proof that tin mining and production was possible in the United States. Rival newspapers alleged that Professor Sydney Norton of Ohio State University analyzed the tin plates and revealed that they consisted of 87 ½-percent iron, 3-percernt lead, and only 9-pecent tin. The issue was a minor bump in McKinley’s ultimately successful campaign to become Ohio’s governor. The token is the only politically-associated one that remains in the Owney tag collection.
Data Source
National Postal Museum
Date
1891
Object number
0.052985.215
Type
Seals, Symbols & Signage
Medium
metal (steel; tin)
Dimensions
Diameter: 2 1/4 in. (5.72 cm)
Place
Ohio
See more items in
National Postal Museum Collection
On View
Currently on exhibit at the National Postal Museum
Topic
Popular Culture
Record ID
npm_0.052985.215
Usage
CC0
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/hm81bbb6627-c189-4e55-9f96-60869b67ce1b
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HomeSmithsonian National Postal Museum

Visit »

Open daily 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Admission is always free!

2 Massachusetts Ave., N.E.
Washington, DC 20002

The museum's main entrance is located on the corner of First Street and Massachusetts Avenue NE. Other entrances have variable hours.

street map of Postal museum

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Owney, the Railway Mail Service Mascot

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