Scarce & Desirable World's Columbian 10-Cent Ticket from Ocean Trading Company (OTCo)

The OTCo was the official or legal name of the popular South Sea Islanders village that was shared with the Java exhibit exhibit not because both were from the same geographic region, but to sort out a controversy between concession managers. It took mediation by the fair's president, Harlow Higinbotham, to sort it out.

The result seemed to satisfy all the parties. Java occupied about 3/4 of the joint village and also out-aold the OTCo $155,000 to $93,000; the numbers sound small today, but in 1893 dollars both concessions had well over $1 million in souvenir sales and admission charges.

This ticket is in mint condition, color and surfaces as issued with no flaws.

A Few Factors in Ticket Prices
This OTCo ticket, like its companion 25 cent ticket, historically has sold for as much as $100, although the majority of sales have generally been in the $60+ to $90+ range. For example, earlier this year The History Bank sold one at a discounted price of $41 to a longtime customer and another on ebay another for $100. ...to a winning bidder who had never purchased from me before.

This is quite typical, as I have said, the most important factor in the final price of a ticket is WHO is buying/bidding and how often is the given ticket available?

Sales such as this one don't happen often, and having forty WCE tickets in a single sale tends to generate more transactions-- on both very rare tickets and on very common ones. The fact that I am lowering prices for this sale also may have the effect of some buyers believing other sales might be overpriced. Longtime buyers don't fall into this trap, but new collectors often do. My forthcoming book about WCE tickets will include not only information on every known WCE ticket, but sidebars and longer articles discussing these very issues.