The Token and Medal Society was founded on November 19, 1960, in Detroit and formally incorporated on April 8, 1966. Among the founding members were well-known numismatists Q. David Bowers, Clifford Mishler, and Russell Rulau. The original name was The Society of Token, Medal & Obsolete Paper Money Collectors but was changed in August 1961.`
TAMS encompasses a wide range of material, including trade tokens, civil war tokens, hard times tokens, transportation tokens and US and foreign medals. Members of the Token and Medal Society also work to attribute and identify "maverick" issues, which are tokens and medals for which the origin is unknown.
The organization hosts an annual meeting and awards presentation in conjunction with the American Numismatic Association World's Fair of Money summer convention. From 1983 until 2010, the Society issued their own medals commemorating its annual meetings. Due to rising costs, the 2010 medal was the last in the series.
The Journal of the Token and Medal Society is published 6 times per year in full color. Interested authors can contact the editor.
