Thanks for the look at more of these, pingu. The impression I get of these pieces and the stories behind them is that of an incredibly byzantine mix of current and cross-current. The ins and outs of Mardi Gras, of its participants and the various activities, make it seem like this specialty could take about as much hobby-time as a person had.
I don't know how much published literature there is for Mardi Gras tokens, or of what vintage, but that could be a problem for collectors.
Another problem seems to be availability, even in the U.S. Perhaps because they are still new enough for almost all of them to be in the possession of their original owners--in a general demographic sense, anyway--and because they were perhaps souvenirs gotten during some pleasant (and especially memorable) personal event, their original owners have not yet consented to part with them.
Or it could be as simple as price; since their value is low and is likely to remain so, there has been no economic incentive to pull them out of hiding.
At any rate, at least until the mortality tables do their inevitable work, Mardi Gras tokens seem much tougher to find than they should be, given the great numbers manufactured.
Again, thanks for showing us some more of these.
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