Parading for almost 10 years, the Mistick Krewe of Okeanos Mardi Gras Parade is more exciting and fun than other parades because riders of the floats and other entries don’t just stand and wave, they toss things to the crowds that are watching. The tradition of float throws came about in the 1870s in New Orleans with the Twelfth Night Revelers who decided to throw prizes to the parade goers. It wasn’t until the 1920s that parades starting throwing glass beads.
While Mardi Gras is most frequently associated with strings of beads, other keepsakes are thrown in the parades. Zulu throws hand decorated coconuts, Muses throws hand decorated purses, and Nyx throws hand decorated shoes. Okeanos has thrown branded cups, and also branded medallion beads in the past. One of the more prized “throws” in New Orleans Mardi Gras parades is the Krewe doubloon, a minted aluminum coin, similar to a commemorative coin.
The first Mardi Gras Krewe to mint and throw doubloons to the Mardi Gras crowds was the Krewe of Rex. Historically, the advent of the doubloon by the Rex organization in New Orleans in 1960, was a means to make its Mardi Gras day parade unique, and a way to maintain the diversity of the carnival krewe’s throws. Other Krewes saw the doubloon as a way to put the Krewe’s brand in everyone’s pocket, and from then to the present, the doubloon held a coveted spot among a Krewe’s throws. They are a natural collectible because they commemorate the Krewe, the parade theme, and the year.
