Mardi Gras Doubloons

Mardi Gras comes every year on a Tuesday, specifically, the day before the beginning of Lent. Mardi Gras is accompanied by a period of celebrations and parades. The season technically starts on January 6 with a small streetcar parade, but the large street parades usually are confined from the weekend a week and a half before Mardi Gras itself through Mardi Gras day.
It has been a long standing tradition that members of "krewes" who ride the floats in the parades toss inexpensive items to the crowd. This was usually small toy trinkets and beads. In 1959 there was a major change. The Rex organization, the group who put on the main parade on Mardi Gras Day in the city of New Orleans, authorized the throwing of doubloons.
These were such a hit with parade goers that many other organizations soon followed the lead of Rex and added doubloons to their throws.
Mardi Gras doubloons are coin-like medallions, typically made in aluminum. The obverse often shows the organization's insignia, and the reverse shows something symbolic of the theme of the year. Most are silver in color, since it costs to colorize the aluminum. However, others are anodized in different colors. The Rex doubloon is gold in color, and the Mardi Gras colors of purple, green, and gold are frequently seen. Indeed, just about all colors have been minted over the years, with black being a color not too frequently seen.
Mardi Gras doubloons are usually round, and have a standard size, although some organizations, in an effort to stand out, have used other sizes and shapes. Occasionally, multicolored doubloons are included in those thrown by a krewe.
Mardi Gras doubloons soon became collectible, and rare issues even could have some value. Some krewes would throw one that was to be scarce by design, limiting its mintage. These special doubloons might just be a different color, but more frequently they were thicker than the standard ones. Some were only thrown by one or more select riders, such as a celebrity grand marshal or the captain of the organization.
Doubloons exist with reeded edges, plain edges, and scalloped edges. Each organization has the right to design its own doubloons, if it indeed utilizes them.
Doubloons make an excellent keepsake, giving the name of the parade and the year it was produced.

In the early years of Mardi Gras doubloons, collectors demanded these objects to the point that doubloon shops came into existence. Doubloon shops allowed people to buy doubloons, and to sell those that they had in multiplicity.
The value of Mardi Gras doubloon is like anything else, it depends on supply and demand. With numerous collectors the value of doubloons in good condition soared. Most are damaged by falling to the street, or by being dragged across concrete in the process of taking possession of them. Small dings and scratches are common. The way to avoid this is to catch a doubloon in the air, and keep it isolated from hard objects such as keys,
Of course, as doubloons gained popularity the number of different doubloons tossed each year made it difficult to personally catch one of each kind. The problem is that several parades processing at the same time in different areas made it impossible to catch all possible doubloons.
With difficulty in collecting came reduced interest. Also, krewes found that plastic cups with scenes from the parade were cheaper, and had the appeal of being useful. Soon, people began to ignore doubloons, leaving them for the few remaining collectors.
Another throw that reduced interest in doubloons is the special krewe beads, beads with a krewe emblem on each pair.
Currently there seems to be a resurgence in doubloon interest. Perhaps people want souvenirs of New Orleans, or perhaps collectors of the past are restarting their collections after having lost their doubloons in Hurricane Katrina. Whatever the reason, more krewes seem to be throwing them again. Or maybe that is just a perception. The economy has reduced the number of parading organizations, with the older ones richer in tradition comprising a large percentage of the survivors.

Many Mardi Gras organizations do not parade, and of those that do many want something special for their membership. Doubloons designed as collectibles helps fill the need to have something special for many organizations.
Most of the special doubloons are minted out of fine silver, and contain one Troy ounce. These are sold to the members, not tossed to the crowds. Examples of ceramic doubloons also exist. The best way to obtain these special doubloons is to have friends who can obtain them for you. However, there is at least one coin shop that specializes in these. Rarer ones command high prices.
Resale on online auction sites can be disappointing, since their true worth is known only within a small collecting community. They make great collectibles, but may not fare so well as an investment. Whether or not they escalate in value is a chance that one would take to use doubloons as an investment. But, they do often contain fine silver, and that may buoy up their value

Several marching clubs still exist. In the past marching clubs walked the parade route before the first parade on Mardi Gras Day. At least one marching club walked in Metairie, a suburb, before one of the parades there. The most well known of these clubs are the Half Fast Marching Club and the Jefferson City Buzzards.

These clubs are still active, and can be found marching through the streets during the Mardi Gras season, as well as marching in other parades along with other clubs. St. Patrick parades and the Irish Italian parade honoring both St. Patrick and St. Joseph include numerous marching clubs.

A marching club consists of a group who walk, and possibly one truck or float. The one wheeled vehicle is to carry the liquid refreshments, a portable restroom, and, in some few cases, a band.

The Half Fast Marching Club is usually led by the world renown Pete Fountain, who rides the float with his clarinet, and is accompanied by the rest of the band. Yes, the band does play.

The Half Fast Marching Club tosses its own doubloons, which always have the image of Pete Fountain on them. More significantly, a fine silver collectible doubloon is minted each year. It appears there are a few different versions of the collectible doubloons, which are cycled, so no two consecutive years have identical doubloons. The very image of Pete Fountain with his clarinet make these highly collectible.

Valued over the ones thrown from floats, but much more inexpensive that fine silver doubloons, are the oxidized silver doubloons. These make a nice, albeit less expensive, collection. They are readily available ob eBay.

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