Stokes Dies
 

Thought members would be interested to see the dies that Stokes used. I spotted these in an antique market called Hunted. They are mostly school and business (no military unfortunately, unless some of the school ones are Cadet, but I didn't spot any). There were maybe 300 dies. Prices varied around 30-50AUS$ No connection to vendor.

G'day Oz

Thanks for the heads up, Im local to Hunted and will go and have a look.

Regards Phil.

hi phil
called in there 6mths ago and they dont have anything military.
the dies came up a year or so ago. about 100 of them. there were some military but nothing exciting i found.
bc

Hi BC

Thanks for the info, I assumed that they were a new find. Hunted is only a couple of K from me but I don't go that often.

Regards Phil.

heres an article.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/...dd40011d3e2050

when they closed ringwood, they sold hundreds of the metal dies.
i used to visit there regularly in the 1980s. bought some fantastic items from their safe including a pair of officers gold and enamel 32nd btn collars. they were a presentation item for the last CO and the company made 2 pairs? why i dont know, but i got the sample pair. unfortunately, i didn't collect badges back then and traded them to a dealer.
i also bought all the silver and gold civil nursing badges they had. there were about 20 different hospitals and about 5-10 of each. i also moved them on. there were several other nice purchases over a 2 year period.
i loved going through their safe and sample books. unfortunately, the manager at the time retired and i could never get in with the new manager
bc

Woody
 

BC,

Yes, like your story. If only you could turn back time. Young Toby picked 1000's about 4 years ago from Stokes when they closed. I believe there were pallets and skips destined for scrap. I was told be paid a little more the scrap price. He has been selling at markets etc. Museums Victoria also collected all the token dies. I shake when he tells me he was selling Unknown pallets to buyers. They tend to come up on eBay every so often. This is the proof (hub) for manufacturing Simpsons Donkey

hi john
I was offered some as well. but they weighed literally a ton.
how did he move them all? where did he store them?
I just couldn't be bothered
bc

BC, I've only known about them for several months. Came across shelves full at Canterbury Vintage. I believe he moved out from there to Hunted, but he had pallets full of them in his uncles garage for 4 years. His uncle only had a small truck and with limited time they had to rummage, sort and move several tonnes from Stokes overnight. I believe he didn't get all of them so the left overs were actually scrapped with the presses and other machinery. He sold at Camberwell Market too. All that is left are at Hunted. I did get some manufacturing cards detailing quantities and dates etc. I wish I knew about them 4 years ago. I think there's a bit of eclectic suff there like bowling clubs, business, schools odds and sods. This is a rare PNG medal, so scarce they haven't made any replicas.