AZ - Nogales - 5th Cavalry

USA token "Good For 5 Cents" for the 5th Cavalry located across the southern border during Mexican incursions into the US by Pancho Villa. The border war, lead by General Pershing lasted about a year, 1916 - 1917. These and the other issued denominations (25c, 12 1/2c, 10c, all brass & scalloped (8) are very scarce with less than 35 known (all 27 mm).
This is a rare Good For "5" Token from the "Fifth Cavalry Post Exchange" when they were stationed at Nogales, Arizona. These were used back when they were still riding horses instead of tanks. A new post was established in Nogales in 1910, when the Mexican Revolution threatened to spill across the border.
In 1916, after Pancho Villa had invaded the United States and attacked Columbus, New Mexico, this region became a staging area for the Woodrow Wilson ordered "Punitive Expedition" led by General John J. Pershing. He crossed into Mexico in pursuit of Villa, taking the "Fifth Cavalry" and other units with him. Until the beginning of United States involvement in World War I, the military presence was swelled by National Guard units mobilized from western states to protect the border. From 1918 until 1933, the border was guarded by African-American cavalry and infantry regiments known as "Buffalo Soldiers".
The Zimmerman Telegram: American neutrality at the outset of World War I was shattered when a coded message from German Foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmerman to the Mexican government was intercepted by the Americans and deciphered by British Intelligence. The Zimmerman telegram proposed an alliance between Germany and Mexico in the event of war with the United States. If the alliance proved victorious, Mexico would regain Texas, New Mexico. and Arizona. As a result, border outposts at Douglas, Naco and Nogales were strengthened. The conflict at Nogales led to a division of the town and deaths in the process. Several American military units were involved, including the 10th Cavalry out of Ft. Huachuca. To read a history of the "Battle of Ambos Nogales" please follow this: [ link ]
Nogales, Arizona, is located on the United States - Mexico border right across from Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. It is the largest border town in Arizona. The name Nogales means "Black Walnuts" in Spanish, and the walnut trees which once grew abundantly in the mountain pass can still be found around the town.
"Arizona Trade Tokens 2010" by Peter Spooner #NOG-270a (?). Also listed in Birt.
Listed as Rarity 6 (21-35 pieces known).
Listed on the TokenCatalog Database.
Sometimes you have to wonder..here's an NCS (NGC conservation service) slab labeled "Good For 10c" and dated c 1900, all wrong, but at least classified "genuine." Be sure to check out my 25 cent specimen and the other Border Wars related tokens.