About fifty years ago there was a new item that appeared on Mardi Gras Day, the doubloon. This is a medallion about the size of a silver dollar. The first organization to throw these from floats during a parade was Rex, on Mardi Gras Day, 1960. The doubloons has been a fixture at Mardi Gras ever since.
The Mardi Gras doubloons were, and to some extent still are, collectable. After Rex introduced the first doubloons many other parading organizations followed with their own. These medallions are usually aluminum, somewhat standard in size, and depict the organization on the obverse with the dated parade theme on the reverse. This means that new reverses are needed annually. Some parades use the uncolored aluminum doubloons, but others have some or all of their doubloons anodized with color. They come both with plain and reeded edges, and a few have tried shapes and sizes that differ from the norm.
In the early years there was a move by most parading “krewes” to have their own doubloons minted, since these doubloons brought out more parade watchers. After some time, the plastic cup became so popular that many parade goers allowed the doubloons to remain on the ground. The cup also depicted the parading organization and theme of the year, and had practical purposes. This was also about the time many collectors realized they would never get every doubloons minted, and began to lose interest. In the last few years the doubloons has regained some of its appeal, and is now becoming more difficult to catch.
Doubloons are not as easy to collect as coins. Few dealers handle them, and getting high quality doubloons is difficult. You cannot order them from the mint. They are tossed from moving floats, and often thrown by the handful. They hit the street and immediately dent or scratch. The equivalent of an uncirculated coin is rare. For best results in owning a quality example of a doubloon one must know a member of the organization that throws it, and have the doubloon handed out privately, not thrown. Next best is to catch a doubloon in the air. Finally, standing on the median side of the street, called the “neutral ground” by the locals, allows the grassy median to cushion the doubloon’s fall and reduce the scratches.
Currently, only a few organizations throw doubloons. Those that do may have one color, like the gold Rex doubloons, or several doubloons of different color. There were doubloons in the past for individual floats in some rare cases. Occasionally, a color is declared “rare” and thrown in a lesser quantity than the others. Some organizations give the Captain, officers, or the king or queen special doubloons. These are usually a distinctive color and a heavier gauge.
The most valuable doubloons are those not intended to be thrown. These may be one Troy ounce of silver, or disks colored with enamel. They are purchased as keepsakes by the members of the organization, and without connections these are practically impossible to obtain. A few coin dealers will handle these when they are available, but they are minted in very small quantities making that a rare occurrence.
At this time some avid collectors are trying to replace collections destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Many doubloons dated 2005 and earlier were lost in the flood and the cleanup that followed. Unfortunately, some of these collectors have moved away or have simply given up on collecting anything, so the demand has not increased as much as it could have.
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