Lithuania - USA Token 5 Cetns ND (1903) Saint Roch’s Mutual Benefit Society; Both sides bear a dotted border. Obverse inscription: DRAUGISTIE ROKO SZWENTA 1903. Reverse: GOOD FOR 5¢ IN TRADE. The Saint Roch Mutual Benefit Society was organized in the Town of Lake district of Chicago on January 3, 1903. Most of the members were from the Samogitian (Zemaitija) region of Lithuania. St. Roch’s was named after Saint Roch, a Frenchman who cared for persons in plague-stricken Italy in the 14th century. The St. Roch fraternity was established in Lithuania in 1705 with the headquarters established in Varniai, Lithuania, in 1743. Its purpose was to nurse the sick and collect donations for the poor. The St. Roch’s society in Varniai was forcibly closed by the Russian Czar in 1886. The Samogitian Lithuanians who came to the U.S. in the spirit of their original society, re-established it in Chicago. Brass 4.83g. double oval, 25 x 28mm.
