by Mike Carter and George Shea
Albury is the major urban centre of the Albury-Wodonga region,servicing a regional population of around 100,000 people. It is situated on the New South Wales Victorian Border, on the banks of the Murray River and is located between Sydney and Melbourne on a busy inland transport corridor.
The Commercial Club (Albury) Ltd was founded in 1903 as a Business Man’s Club with an emphasis on Commercial Travellers (thus our initial placement as a potential CTA club) and is now a large social club with 30,000 Members. The Commercial Club is located in Dean Street Albury in the centre of Albury CBD.
Enamelled Membership Badges appear to be readily available on the numismatic market and the one shown here was manufactured by Stokes and Son Melbourne.
There is also an Albury Club but only limited info is available on the Internet. Of interest is that Arthur Andrews (1848-1925), medical practitioner, historian and numismatist, practiced in Albury and in the 1880s he was the Honorary Medical Officer at Albury Hospital and Benevolent Asylum. He was also a foundation member of the Albury Club (www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs). The address of the Albury Club is given as Keiwa Street, which places it practically next door to the Commercial Club in Dean Street. Both the Commercial Club (Albury) Ltd and the Albury Club used tokens. The Noble Numismatics catalogue for the Howard Brown Collection auctioned in 2007 includes Albury Club Tokens. The square AC tokens also listed in the catalogue as Albury Club are actually Australia Club according to George Dean and George Shea. Not to be outdone the Commercial Club also had their own series of tokens. A tentative listing is provided below.
There are also other clubs in Albury. The Albury Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen’s Club traces its origins back to the Albury and District War Services Hall Appeal Committee. This group of the World War I diggers, service groups and parents of men serving in World War II set out to raise 14,000 pounds for a Services Memorial Hall.
According to the club’s web site, after the war ended, the Memorial Hall Fund was far short of its target. Also, different attitudes prevailed when the boys came home. Instead of a memorial hall, the idea of a licensed club gained favour. This was to be not merely for RSL men who had served overseas, but for many ex-servicemen who had not left Australia. Using the Memorial Hall Fund, the RSL bought the old Commercial Club buildings at 611 Dean Street, which had been a Service Rest Room throughout the war and up to February 1946. The SS&A Club was formally opened in October 1946 and was registered under the Liquor Act in 1947. (Extracted from SS & A Club: A History By Howard C. Jones). There however appears to be no tokens associated this club. The extract from the newspaper is of Sir John Northcott laying a foundation stone for the Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen’s Club.
The other club of numismatic interest in the area is the Albury Racing Club. The Albury Racing Club conducts sixteen thoroughbred race meetings each year with the feature event, the Cooper Tools Albury Gold Cup run in March/April.
Its history starts from 1840 with the first race meeting being conducted in Albury at ‘Browns Paddock’, which ran roughly from the Hovell Tree to the rotunda in the Botanical Gardens. From 1855 the Albury Jockey Club administered racing until 1865 when the Albury Jockey Club disbanded due to financial problems. In that year His Excellency Sir George Young signed a grant of 141 acres for the present racecourse. Albury Turf Club took up the grant and raced thereon until in 1881, the Albury Racing Club was formed on the 21st January. In 1902 the original Grandstand was built. This was demolished in 1973 to allow the present Grandstand to be constructed.
While the Albury Jockey Club, Albury Turf Club or Albury Racing Club did not use club tokens, the raceway used entry tokens. QNS member Warren Amundsen has 4 different tokens in his collection that was used for adult, child, concession entry and a general ‘Pass’.
The following is a listing of the known Albury Club and Albury Commercial Club tokens, and the Albury Racing Club entry tokens. Thank you to George Shea, George Dean and Warren Amundsen for pictures and information:
| 1. | 6 | copper |
| 2. | 1/- | bronze |
| 3. | 1/- | copper |
| 4. | 2/- | nickel |
| 5. | 2/- | aluminium |
| 6. | 2/6 | bronze gilded (holed) |
| 7. | 2/6 | brass (holed) |
| 8. | 5/- | copper (holed) |
| 9. | 10/- | nickel (holed) |
| 1. | 6d | (All 23.8mm and A E) |
| 2. | 1/- | |
| 3. | 1/- | C holed |
| 4. | 2/- | |
| 5. | 2/- | C holed |
| 6. | 2/6 | Round hole |
| 7. | 5/- | Round hole |
| 1. | Adult | Nickel |
| 2. | Child | Blackened Copper |
| 3. | Concession | Shiny Copper |
| 4. | Pass | Blackened Copper |
The last word is also Warren’s as he advises that CarLovers Carwash also operated in Albury and the token used is the original ‘Ultimate Carwash Token’.
This article originally appeared in the November 2007 Magazine.