S.T. Martin operated a produce store and restaurant at 160 S. Fourth St., across the street from the city's bustling Central Market.

Very little is known about the business. It apparently opened after the 1862 city directory was issued and remained in business at least through 1867.

The dining hall's location is now the site of the Downtown Holiday Inn's parking lot.

Martin appears to have spent his advertising dollars exclusively on storecards.

While he placed no ads in the city's newspapers in 1863, he did pay W.K. Lanphear to strike more than 10,000 tokens bearing the name of S.T. Martin's Eating House.

Rarity estimates suggest 12,614 to 17,312 surviving tokens, making it the most common Columbus token.

A total of 14 Martin tokens have been cataloged, including a scarce (R-8, 5 to 10 known) mule with a W.K. Lanphear die.

Mules are coins or tokens struck from mismatched dies. In this case, reverse dies for two tokens (Martin's and Lanphear's) were combined on one piece.

Lanphear used eight obverse and two reverse dies to produce the run. Reverse dies come in large and small letter varieties.