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Hard Times Tokens - Post Your Images

Started by Hard Times,

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BROADSTRUCK

BROADSTRUCK

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Beck’s Public Baths Token, Virginia. Richmond, HT-441 / Low-275.

 

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One of the most famous 19th century tokens listed in The 100 Greatest American Medals and Tokens by Q. David Bowers and Katherine Jaeger as their number 86.

 

While today we may think that, per the saying “cleanliness is next to godliness” it was not always so. In the period from about 1832 to 1844 when Charles Beck distributed his Beck’s Public Baths tokens in Richmond Virginia as bathing was an occasional experience at best. Houses did not have indoor plumbing and for most people in the city the closest thing to a bath was wiping with a soapy wet cloth. Across the country some academies and boarding schools made it an offense to bathe in the colder months as the practice being deemed unhealthy. For those who desired to bathe public baths were operated in most of the larger cities. Records show that in 1832 Charles Beck was a confectioner and the operator of a bathing facility. The baths were in operation until at least 1844. These tokens about the size of a quarter dollar may have circulated locally as currency or more likely they were used as admission checks.

 

In 1859 New York City numismatist Charles I. Bushnell published An Arrangement of Tradesmen’s Cards, Political Tokens. Soon the Beck’s token became a favorite with it’s somewhat risqué depiction of a nude woman. Naturally the popularity for this token was immediate and widespread due to the finely engraved naked woman on the obverse. Collectors with an eye for beauty eagerly latched onto these Beck’s Public Baths tokens at an early time. Demand has always exceeded supply since they were first noticed in Bushnell’s early reference.

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BROADSTRUCK

BROADSTRUCK

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1837 New York Merchant's Exchange HT-293 / Low-97

 

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I'm very partial to the 1837 New York Merchant's Exchange token design, as it was the first HTT I ever owned when I was a kid.

 

 

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Hard Times

Hard Times

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Nice, is it in a NGC holder? If so, it looks possibly tradeable straight across for, oh, I dunno, say an HT-47 in MS63 grade.......... ;)

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BROADSTRUCK

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Some other Running Boars...

 

1834 Running Boar HT-9 / Low-8, R-1

 

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

 

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1834 Running Boar HT-11 / Low-10, R-3

 

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1834 Running Boar HT-12A / Low-11A Silvered Brass, R-6

 

2gui4ra.jpg

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BROADSTRUCK

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Thanks grip & johnny9434! :)

 

This one deserved to be reshot...

 

1838 New York - Am I not a Woman & Sister HT-81 / Low 54

 

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This is the classic antislavery token is also said to commemorate the formation of the Liberty Party in 1838. Thanks to the research of Eric P. Newman, collectors may now know a good deal more about the background of HT 81 and HT 82. His conclusions are summarized here: In late 1837 the American Anti-Slavery Society, located at 143 Nassau Street, New York, commissioned the firm of Gibbs Gardner & Co. of Belleville, N.J. to strike copper tokens (HT 81, the Kneeling Female piece). The tokens probably cost the AASS about 50 cents per hundred, as they contained copper then worth 39.5 cents per hundred. Beginning May 4, 1833, the AASS published a weekly newspaper, The Emancipator, published by Charles W. Denison and edited by Joshua Leavitt. In its issue of Nov. 23, 1837, the Emancipator ran an advertisement offering the Female Slave tokens at $1 per hundred. Made of good copper and with a device on reverse similar to legal U.S. cents, they sold well. The ad also said that it was proposed to issue Kneeling Male Slave tokens as well, and this accounts for the few pattern pieces of HT 82, which were never produced for circulation. U.S. Mint Director Patterson moved quickly to suppress the circulation of HT 81, and it is apparent that by late December, 1837, he had succeeded in part. No further ads for the Female Slave tokens appeared in the AASS weekly or in other Journals, but since the number of pieces of HT 81 still surviving is quite large, they may well have been distributed by middlemen who paid about 62 cents per hundred for them in early 1838. Gibbs Gardner & Co. were selected by the AASS in part because John Gibbs’ Belleville Mint had also struck the 1833 Liberia cent tokens for another American anti-slavery group in Maryland. The AASS actually distributed a British anti-slavery medal in the U.S. in 1835, selling for 25 cents each, the 1834 Emancipation Jubilee Medal.

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Hard Times

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I will reshoot it for you for free Broadstruck, why don't you send it to me and I will, I dunno, say, send it back to you after around 2 decades of perusal? I will send the digital images asap of course but this example requires serious study for a while :roflmao:

 

Or we could trade straight up for one of my spare HT-9's, you choose which, and I will still provide free images! (thumbs u

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BROADSTRUCK

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I will reshoot it for you for free Broadstruck, why don't you send it to me and I will, I dunno, say, send it back to you after around 2 decades of perusal? I will send the digital images asap of course but this example requires serious study for a while :roflmao:

 

Or we could trade straight up for one of my spare HT-9's, you choose which, and I will still provide free images! (thumbs u

 

Lets see :idea: how about no doh!

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Hard Times

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Here is a nice merchant token from New York, The white spots on the upper part of the reverse are on the slab. Moffet had a foundry - think of him as a progenitor to the fine metal product companies of today such as Johnson Matthey and H. Cross. He was also an American pioneer in the buisness of rolling brass for various uses. He was a token maker from 1802-1837. This was one of his last tokens.

 

HT-297NGCMS65comp2.jpg

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JJSingleton

JJSingleton

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I know nothing about tokens. I just spent the last 35 minutes going through this entire thread and it was fun. What more can anyone ask. Thanks guys for a job well done.

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Hard Times

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FatMan - don't get any ideas about starting to buy these, we have enough competition as it is ;) the key is to learn, not to develop a new collecting interest :roflmao:

 

But thanks we aims to please - Broadstruck has an amazing collection!

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BROADSTRUCK

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I know nothing about tokens. I just spent the last 35 minutes going through this entire thread and it was fun. What more can anyone ask. Thanks guys for a job well done.

 

Thanks Fatman :)

 

 

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BROADSTRUCK

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FatMan - don't get any ideas about starting to buy these, we have enough competition as it is ;) the key is to learn, not to develop a new collecting interest :roflmao:

 

But thanks we aims to please - Broadstruck has an amazing collection!

 

Thanks Hard Times... Your collection isn't shabby either, as you know you have a couple examples I want! ;):P

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HiHoAudio

HiHoAudio

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I just spent the last 35 minutes going through this entire thread and it was fun. What more can anyone ask. Thanks guys for a job well done.

 

Indeed.

 

Conder tokens and Hard Times tokens have quite a bit in common, and I find I am being drawn to the HT tokens lately. Like a moth to a flame... :grin:

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No No! Broadstruck we have to shut this down now! We are generating too much interest, prices are going to go up! :roflmao:

 

Generating interest by publicly posting HTT's on the forums hasn't been bad, as it has brought more examples to the marketplace. I in the last year have had a chance to cherry pick a couple collections that had been off the market for decades. As far as prices... Well I was astonished at some of the hammer prices in the Dice Hicks sale and didn't win a single lot. Since the auction I've happily paid up and today may actually own close to about 15% from that collection. There's still a few varieties I'm actively seeking and if it takes a few more players to shake them free from strong hands... Well then bring em all on! :P

 

Honestly I generally collect items that are so far removed from general numismatics that it can get a bit lonely on the final frontier...

 

So more HTT participation is very welcomed! :whee:

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