Hard Times Tokens - Post Your Images

[Hard Times]

Gotta like themz small ANACS holdurs, theyz wuz graded differntly then buy todaiz standerds! (thumbs u

 

Best, HT

 

72,502

[BROADSTRUCK]

Gotta like themz small ANACS holdurs, theyz wuz graded differntly then buy todaiz standerds! (thumbs u

 

Best, HT

 

72,502

 

Yeah I remember placing a shock and awe win at any price bid on that HT-69 many years ago and won it for 1/6 my max... Guessing bidders backed off as it wasn't in the so-called right plastic which was awesome moment when I received my winner notification.

[Hard Times]

I have had ANACS and ICG tokens upgrade well when graded at NGC, but it is hit and miss...... But that 69 is a beauty! (thumbs u

 

Best, HT

[BROADSTRUCK]

I have had ANACS and ICG tokens upgrade well when graded at NGC, but it is hit and miss...... But that 69 is a beauty! (thumbs u

 

Best, HT

 

Thanks HT!

 

Yeah I have no issues buying ANACS and ICG graded HTT's as most all I've seen have either been conservatively graded or right on. I don't submit my raw's for TP opinions but if ANACS was still utilizing the tiny white chase I would. As photography wise they had the best scratch & haze resistant acrylic of any TPG holder on the market.

[BROADSTRUCK]

1849 Cyrus Yale, Jr. & Company, New Orleans, Louisiana , Low-289 / Miller L-51 / Wright-1289, Rarity-7 (4-12 Known), Brass , 28mm Diameter.

 

The following is the finest known example of this classic Louisiana token rarity which was first mentioned in Charles Ira Bushnell’s 1858 book titled “An Arrangement of Tradesman's Cards, Political Tokens, Election Medals”. Once considered a Hard Times era merchant store card issue circa 1841 it has been re-dated to 1849 as C. Yale, Jr. & Co. was not found in any prior New Orleans business directory .

 

This newly acquired previously unknown specimen is fresh to the market after having resided within the holdings of the same family for four generations. Originally collected by the great-grandfather and passed down to his son. The son now grandfather passed away a few years ago in his mid 90’s. His father’s token collection was just discovered a few years later in the inherited house having carefully been placed in a mason jar and camouflaged among other mason jars containing screws, washer, and bolts stored on a workbench.

 

 

Beyond Bushnell this token was covered in the following publications -

 

Dr. Benjamin P. Wright in his 1901 book titled “The American Store or Business Cards” considered it Very Rare and assigned it a Rarity-7 level along with his number Wright-1289 non plated line drawing supplied.

 

Edgar H. Adams in his 1920 book titled "U.S. Store Cards" listed it as Rare non plated and assigned the number 51 to it for Louisiana.

 

Wayte Raymond in his 1940 book titled "United States Coins and Tokens" called it Rare non plated line drawing supplied.

 

Donald M. Miller in his 1962 book titled “A Catalogue Of U.S. Store Cards or Merchant Tokens” considered it Rare non plated.

 

Russell Rulau had it listed in his 1st edition volume of his book titled "Hard Times Token 1832-1844" as 1841 dated Low-289 Rarity-7.

 

 

The Dice/Hicks example shown below with a scan from the actual auction catalog plates to date has been the finest known example of this rarity.

It was considered Uncirculated by Stack’s in 2008 and also Brilliant Uncirculated when Stack’s offered the same token in the 1989 Steinberg sale.

 

 

Below is a list of other known examples once in major collections sold at auction in the last few decades including Charles Bushnell's own example –

 

Charles I. Bushnell collection sale Chapman Brothers 6/20/1882 Lot # 1127 VG Dented.

 

John L. Roper collection sale Stack’s 3/20/1984 Lot # 453 EF.

 

Julian Liedman collection sale Bowers and Merena 4/12/1986 Lot # 4627 EF – Ex: Roper 1984.

 

Lionel L. Rudduck collection sale Bowers and Merena 3/29/1989 Lot # 3132 AU50 obv & rev scratches.

 

Lionel L. Rudduck collection sale Bowers and Merena 11/6/1989 Lot # 3174 EF.

 

Robert Lindersmith collection sale Bowers and Merena 3/23/2000 Lot # 1206 VF.

 

Gilbert Steinberg collection sale Stack’s 10/17/1989 Lot # 418 BU.

 

Gilber Steinberg collection sale Bowers and Merena 11/6/2002 Lot # 5504 EF reverse scratches.

 

Hoosier collection sale PCAC 3/20/99 Lot # 125 VF - although not mentioned it looks corroded based on plates.

 

Charles Litman collection sale PCAC 12/6/2003 Lot # 136 VF - although not mentioned based on plates it looks like the same example in the Hoosier sale.

 

Dice/Hicks collection sale Stack’s 7/28/08 Lot # 3298 Unc - Ex: Steinberg 1989.

 

 

Info on Cyrus Yale:

 

Born in New Hartford Conn May 25 1818 Cyrus Yale married Martha West in Rochester New York and shortly after ventured south. Mr. Yale was already a prominent merchant in New Orleans in the 1840 located on 17, 19, & 21 Magazine Street with now remaining partner John Bowling. Formally the Peet,Yale, & Bowling Company established in 1837 as distributors of wholesale dry goods and notions. Yale & Bowling stocked the best and latest supply of fine fancy goods manufactured in eastern cities and Europe south of Chicago. Sales not only included the gulf states but also Mexico and Central America.The Yale & Bowling partnership was never dissolved as it's still listed in a 1889 directory. In 1849 based on directory information Cyrus Yale opened another location at 27 Magazine Street under the business name of C. Yale, Jr. & Co. which was later managed by his son up until 1859. Mr. Yale at the time of the civil war ran the blockade and sailed for Paris in 1861 to join his family who had preceded him. Mr. Yale remained in France until 1869 prior to returning to America. His wife died abroad and Mr. Yale died in New York Dec 26 1889 survived by four children.

 

[rons]

Nice write up. Thanks for the great background information. It was very interesting.

[Zoins]

1834 Running Boar HT-10 / Low-9, Brass, Rarity-3

 

 

This is neat. Some how I think the down with the bank and my currency slogans could get people in trouble today, the same way Bernard von NotHaus is in some trouble.

[Hard Times]

Very nice Broadie, great images, great research, great history!

 

:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

 

 

Best, HT

[BROADSTRUCK]

Thanks HT!

 

Wow 75680 views... TTT w/ a newp

 

1837 George Jarvis, Wine & Tea Dealer, New York, HT-284 / Low-123, Rarity-3

 

[BROADSTRUCK]

HT-M17 William J. Mullen Gold Watch Dial Maker - NYC New York, Rarity-4

 

This is the ex: Dice/Hicks, Lionel L. Rudduck example which was really tough to photograph in the NGC holder as it has semi proof like fields.

 

Struck in high relief it's considered one of the best designed and one of the most interesting of the 19th century merchant's tokens.

 

[BROADSTRUCK]

1837 New York Centre Market, HT-239 / Low 110, Rarity-2

 

On this example the upper bands on all the reverse columns are fully rounded without the usually seen weakly struck soft/flat areas.

 

[EXOJUNKIE]

Nice tokens Broadie! (thumbs u

 

Hope you saved a little for the ANA!

[Hard Times]

Broadie that is a real stunner!

 

Best, HT

[BROADSTRUCK]

So what happens when a long time Standing Liberty Quarter collector moves to Hard Times Tokens

 

Pays up for Full Head details!

 

The Lafayette obverse design shown below is used on a 1/2 a dozen different merchant hard times era store cards. The dies tired fast and the centers are normally encountered weakly struck. Lafayette's hair, facial details, and hands are usually just seen as mush or blobs of metal, along with his coat, vest, and tip of the top hat. The top below is my newp and the only token at S/B lot viewing that just wowed and blew me away as it has full hair curl details, a rounded nose tip, eye browns, not only hands but full finger separation which are never seen on this obverse design. I've enclosed the image from the 2008 Dice/Hicks sale as flipping through the catalog over the years, if I've paused to admire this token once I've seen it a couple hundred times. However the printed photos just didn't emphasis how moose like of a strike this really had until I saw it in hand. The lower photo is what the average encountered obverse strike usually looks like on this variety and although weekly struck this token also fetched a pretty earth shattering hammer price in one of Steve Hayden's recent auctions. So I was already prepared to ramped up my max bid to acquire my newp and I'll post my own pics once I have it in hand. Yes it was a expensive acquisition in token terms, but being the earliest die strike I've seen it was peanuts compared to a far more commonly encountered Full Head 1927-S 25c.

 

1835 Clark & Anthony, Providence, Rhode Island, HT-425 / Low-94.

 

[EXOJUNKIE]

Congrats Broadie. (thumbs u

 

Glad you were able to pick something up as IMO there weren't too many good deals to be had in this latest S/B offering. I got blown out of the water on everything I bid on, and unfortunately I couldn't get away from work and wasn't at my computer for online bidding which is pretty much a "must" unless you're willing to post a nuclear bid.

 

I remain surprised at the market's ability to absorb all the tokens in the last two S/B sales! Exonumia rocks!

[BROADSTRUCK]

Congrats Broadie. (thumbs u

 

Glad you were able to pick something up as IMO there weren't too many good deals to be had in this latest S/B offering. I got blown out of the water on everything I bid on, and unfortunately I couldn't get away from work and wasn't at my computer for online bidding which is pretty much a "must" unless you're willing to post a nuclear bid.

 

I remain surprised at the market's ability to absorb all the tokens in the last two S/B sales! Exonumia rocks!

 

Thanks EXOJ!

 

Honestly you didn't miss much as about a dozen had been tweaked/enhanced since last on crossing the podium and another 1/2 a dozen had other issues to begin with. So even if I had an unlimited budget after 3+ hours of lot viewing I would have most likely just been able to pick up a few more. Did you notice how the lovely patina once present on the Spering HT-419 in 2008 was now gone? Well it wasn't just poor imaging as in hand that token had a major overhaul and was dead as a door nail. The HT-12A once light with patina and considered a EF for the last 60 years was now almost fully black as was the HT-10A which was once silvery, now also black and the list goes on... As I saw cleaned, burnished, smoothed, whizzed, polished, & chemically enhanced along with lots of overly graded examples. So I went above nuclear on my max bid on this one as this was the only example at under $8K that was truly original and fit my search category of virginal unmolested. What a shame, but in hand lot viewing is still always a great experience as I had a chance to see items I may never see again, looked at items that I already own just as a comparison, and managed to take several pages of valuable detailed notes on everything I viewed.

 

[BROADSTRUCK]

Here's some quick pics I took on my own

 

[Hard Times]

Thaz the best struck 425 I have ever seen. Nice catch Broadie!

 

Best, HT

[BROADSTRUCK]

Thaz the best struck 425 I have ever seen. Nice catch Broadie!

 

Best, HT

 

Thanks HT!

[Hard Times]

I'm shocked that this thread is approaching 3K in views, as there's most likely not more then a bakers dozen of HTT collectors!

 

That was 12/21/2010

 

Today is 9/21/2013, two years, 9 months later, 649 posts, 82,451 views, 127 views/post which is as high as any thread on these boards, and the thread keeps running strong.

 

Many more HTT's out there to post as images and discuss!

 

Keep 'em coming folks.

 

Best, HT

[coinsarefun]

Although not a HTT, I won this really nice

1860 Mobile Jockey Club. Miller-Ala 17 MS64BN

Rulau Notes that there are only 4 known.

 

As cwt said via pm

 

"Congratulations again on that Mobile Jockey club mule - a very rare token from a Southern state just prior to the outbreak of the Civil War"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Hard Times]

Very nice Stephanie and congrats! Webster was key in the HTT series so very relevant on this thread. 4 known - A true rarity to appreciate.

 

Best, HT

[BROADSTRUCK]

1840 Dudley A. Randall & Company, Baltimore, Maryland, HT-147A / Low-403A, Reeded Edge, 16.6mm Diameter, German Silver, Rarity-5.

 

The typically encountered die cracks for this merchant store card can be seen on the obverse.

 

[EXOJUNKIE]

1840 Dudley A. Randall & Company, Baltimore, Maryland, HT-147A / Low-403A, Reeded Edge, 16.6mm Diameter, German Silver, Rarity-5.

 

Congrats on what appears to be a nice pickup. I'm glad you were finally able to find something worthwhile from this seller! (thumbs u

[Hard Times]

Very nice Mr. Broad..........

 

Best, HT

[BROADSTRUCK]

Thanks guys here's another

 

1837 Illustrious Predecessor, HT-34 / Low-20

 

Ex: Dice/Hicks, Melvin & George Fuld collections.

 

[EXOJUNKIE]

Thanks guys here's another

 

1837 Illustrious Predecessor, HT-34 / Low-20

 

Ex: Dice/Hicks, Melvin & George Fuld collections.

 

Pretty RB example. Nice PU!

[Hard Times]

 

 

Nice Broadie! Some strike differences with mine below - I also don't see the die rust patch above the donkey's rear on yours as well as on mine - is that just the image or it is there?

 

Best, HT

 

 

 

[BROADSTRUCK]

Pretty RB example. Nice PU!

 

Thanks ExoJ

[BROADSTRUCK]

 

 

Nice Broadie! Some strike differences with mine below - I also don't see the die rust patch above the donkey's rear on yours as well as on mine - is that just the image or it is there?

 

Best, HT

 

 

 

Thanks HT,

 

The example I just posted is slightly off center as it was struck misaligned on the obverse.

 

It does not have a rust patch behind the donkey's ear nor do my other examples of 1837 Illustrious Predecessor HT-34/Low-20 below.

 

The following below is a grouping of both early and late die stages of this variety.

 

Any scratches or haze seen is on the slabs not the tokens.

 

MS63RB

 

 

MS64RB

 

 

MS65RB

 

 

MS66RB