Pistol Pete's Pizza opened in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1958, founded by Pete Zahradnick. The chain peaked in the 1970s with more than 100 locations across the country, then started a long decline through the 1980s. Bankruptcy followed in 1993, and the last Pistol Pete's standing finally closed in 2021.
The story is also tied to the pizza-arcade family tree: Peter Piper Pizza acquired Pistol Pete's in 1995 and rebranded every remaining location to Peter Piper's by 2003. So while Pistol Pete tokens aren't quite as ubiquitous as CEC or SPP pieces, they sit at an interesting crossroads in pizza-arcade history.
This catalog tracks 19 Pistol Pete tokens. At a high level, they group into four token types, differentiated by the mascot art (Lil Pete the bear vs. the later cowboy) and by whether the legend text wraps in one line or two.
Compositions and sizes
The metal options are straightforward: brass is the workhorse, with nickel strikes as the rarer companion. There's no anodized rainbow here and no copper.
Two diameters appear across the catalog: .900 inches and .984 inches, with .984″ being the predominant size. Both coin and medal orientations exist across the four types, so when you're comparing two seemingly identical pieces, flip them and check the alignment.
Reverses come in two simple flavors: "No Cash Value" marking, or a plain two-groove pattern with no text.
The Four Token Types
Type 1: Lil Pete, single-line legend
The earliest design. Features Lil Pete, the bear mascot, with a single-line legend wrapping around the perimeter.
Front: Lil Pete bear portrait with brand text on one line.
Back: Either "No Cash Value" or the two-groove pattern.
Type 2: Lil Pete, two-line legend
Same Lil Pete bear, but the legend now wraps in two lines for better readability.
Front: Lil Pete bear portrait with brand text laid out across two lines.
Back: Same options as Type 1.
Type 3: Cowboy mascot, single-line legend
A full mascot pivot. The bear is gone, replaced by a cowboy character that lines up with the "Pistol Pete" name. Single-line legend.
Front: Cowboy portrait with one-line text.
Back: "No Cash Value" or two grooves.
Type 4: Cowboy mascot, two-line legend
The cowboy carries over, now with the two-line legend layout that Type 2 introduced.
Front: Cowboy portrait with two-line text.
Back: Same options.
Top 4 Pistol Pete pieces by fair value
Pistol Pete's Pizza Token (PP302N)
Pistol Pete's Pizza Token (PP301B)
Pistol Pete's Pizza Token (PP303B)
Pistol Pete's Pizza Token (PP201B)
A note before you go hunting
Pistol Pete tokens are an under-tracked corner of the pizza-arcade collecting world. The chain was smaller than CEC or SPP, the franchise footprint was concentrated in the Midwest and Plains, and the eventual rebrand to Peter Piper means a lot of late-era inventory probably got mixed and lost. That makes any complete examples worth holding onto.