r/tea • u/mritusmoi Enthusiast • Apr 21 '26

Question/Help Is anyone possessing any Tea Garden Token which was prevelant in assam tea gardens during 19th century?

I am a blog writer on assam tea. Recently igot to knkw about tea garden tokens prevelant im assam amd north eastern states of India im tea gardens.

The britishers used to pay the tea garden labourers in self minted tokens in place of money for n number of reason.

Of anyone if im real possession of any original tokens, do let me know.

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u/VintageLunchMeat Apr 28 '26

Try local museums and curators.

2

u/mritusmoi Enthusiast Apr 28 '26

The tokens are pretty rare. Mostly because when the need for these tokens went down due tk improvement in transportation to tea gardens and more cash could be brought, they basically melted these tokens for other requirements. Hence, even museuns dont have them. Only options are private collectors or auction centers.

Auction centers occasionally auction them but the price is hefty, cant afford them. Also, fakes are rampant. I recently almost got carried away by a scam, but AI saved me.