Anti-Slavery 1838 Token

[cannonball]

When I found this large cent yesterday I realized that it was not a large cent at all but an 1838 anti-slavery token. As I cleaned it up and saw what appeared to be a black women in chains a cold feeling ran through my stomach. It's another hard times token made right here in New Jersey.
Token US Anti-Slavery 'Am I not a Woman and a Sister?' 1838'Am I not a Woman and a Sister?' appeared on abolitionist tokens that have circulated in America and Great Britain. At the end of 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 these copper tokens. These tokens show significant relations between abolition and the fight for equal rights of women. There were also 'Am I not a Man and a Brother' tokens, but the female version drew much more attention.

 

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[Forest Mosquito]

Hello.
very interesting find.: icon_thumleft:

 

[thrifty76now]

A very interesting find for sure.

 

[Tencents]

I'm thinking that's better than finding a large cent.

 

[Aureus]

Great find! I don't remember seing this one on Tnet before. Congratulations!

 

[Red-Coat]

That's a scarce token. There's a bit more about them in this contemporary notice promoting anti-slavery (referred to as 'medals', although they did apparently circulate as tokens):



The "Am I Not A Man And A Brother" variant is extremely rare. I think only four examples are known, but modern replicas exist. One of the authentic examples fetched over $70,000 at auction not that long ago.

 

[Calabash Digger]

A very good find!

 

[Silver Tree Chaser]

Excellent recovery. I found one years ago. I believe a broken die resulted in far fewer "Am I Not a Brother?" tokens, which makes them exceedingly rare and valuable.

 

[Erik in NJ]

I found one of the anti-Andrew Jackson hard times tokens in MA a few years back (the one with the treasury box on top of the turtle). That's a nice one and one I've never seen before. Nice find! What part of NJ are you in?

 

[Squirrel322]

Holy Moly, that is an awesome find! What a great piece of American history

 

[against the wind]

Excellent recovery,,
Congratulations

 

[Mackaydon]

A great educational token; congrats on finding.
Don....

 

[Lost Signal]

I had no idea that anything like that was ever made. Very interesting and a great find!

 

[montcalm]

Very nice scarce token. I found one with black men on ,from England 1787 , in Quebec Canada.

 

[Wildcat1750]

So much better than a "mere" Large Cent. Awesome find!

 

[Jeff H]

That is a really great find! Wow!

 

[jewelerguy]

awesome

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

That find is a real piece of history - congrats !

 

[A2coins]

Thats freakin cool I love old tokens like that....

 

[Colonial Digger]

Awesome piece of history saved, great job.