Who Wants To Be A Brothel Inspector?!

[Tania Admin]

Recently I have added to my ever growing Coin Collection.
These ones are presently my pride and joy.
Though not your average coins, "tokens" to be precise.

I love them. What do you think? Wouldn't it be cool to have a Langtrees collection!

The WILD WEST

Now quite interestingly there used to be an official Position in the Sheriff's Office "The Brothel Inspector".Sadly mine is a reproduction but it's still pretty awesome!

This badge is neither novelty nor joke! Brothel Inspector was an official office. No foolin’! This had to be the cushiest job this side of the Mississippi. Their adventures were decidedly more in the category of an “indoor sport”.



OLD WEST BROTHEL TOKEN'S.
These are 1 1/2" across. made from brass the old western way.
There is 5 tokens all are double sided.
LONG BRANCH SALOON, ROSIE'S, FAT ANN'S SALOON, STELLA'S SALOON AND KITTY'S KAT HOUSE.

 

[Tania Admin]

I also have this set, which I also love love love!❤


A "spintria" is a Roman coin with an erotic scene on one side and a the Roman number on the other. They seem to have been produced for only a short period, mostly in the 1st century AD. "Spintria" itself is a word bearing a different meaning in Latin but it is an entirely modern practice to apply it to these little objects. Archeologists are indeed unsure what the Romans called them... or what they used them for. But there are a number of guesses.


The dominating idea circulating about these tokens is that they were part of the highly developed Roman brothel economy. Perhaps a Roman soldier got the token and then went and redeemed it at one of the local brothels. Or maybe the sexual position depicted on the token was what he had paid for. Now, as there is no evidence for these things at all, no-one could actually disprove that.

However, there is no Roman mention of such things, none have been found in any place that has been identified as a "brothel"... and no mention of any kind of infrastructure of the ancient "brothel industry" that this kind of internal currency would imply.

So what is a more likely explanation?

Almost certainly these were tokens whose main function was the numeral, and the sex scene on the back was 'decoration". One possibility would be an amphitheatre token, and the Roman number would indicate which entrance you were to use.

Another possible explanation is that it was a gaming token, for one of the many Roman board games

 

[Numpty]

Would prefer to be in charge of recruiting & quality control personally