Earthworks calls me last night and he's "Jonesing" to get out for his first day of detecting in '07. I've been out a few times, but not much luck so far. We decide to hit an old historic house that has given up several Rev. War era and early 1800s coins and relics of the period. A couple hours into it I find a dropped musket ball (funny enough, it was within a few feet of Earthwork's car door). A little while later I got a great signal and bingo, draped bust large cent (photo attached; no date, but 1796-1807 for this version). Earthworks comes over and we are detecting that area where I found mine. 10 minutes later and I hear a yell, just my name, but I could tell by the voice it was a good one. He finds the attached, which we thought was a large cent until cleaned. It's a Hard Times Token from 1837 (description below). First one of those we've ever found. Funny it actually says "Not One Cent" on the back. It's like Earthworks got punk'ed from 1837. :-) -- 170 year joke in the making (still a good find).
Tokens of the period 1833 - 1844 are known as Hard Times Tokens, a name given them by Lyman H. Low in 1886 in his book of that title. "Hard Times" certainly resulted from the Panic of 1837, when specie payments were suspended, and many of these tokens have reference - often satirical - to the events of this period. But the term has now grown to encompass any token minted during this period, even if it is merely a store card, and is now simply a convenience for collectors. The majority of these tokens actually circulated as cents (and, in one instance, as a half cent), including the store cards. The pieces attacking President Jackson (portrayed as a wild boar or a jackass) are quite common in worn condition. The tokens of this period have been the subject of several books (the current standard reference is Hard Times Tokens by Russell Rulau, Second Edition) and bring the highest prices of any American tokens after the Colonial period; $6,000 was paid for a single token at the March 26-27, 1980 Garrett Sale, and many other tokens brought four-figure prices.
Tokens of the period 1833 - 1844 are known as Hard Times Tokens, a name given them by Lyman H. Low in 1886 in his book of that title. "Hard Times" certainly resulted from the Panic of 1837, when specie payments were suspended, and many of these tokens have reference - often satirical - to the events of this period. But the term has now grown to encompass any token minted during this period, even if it is merely a store card, and is now simply a convenience for collectors. The majority of these tokens actually circulated as cents (and, in one instance, as a half cent), including the store cards. The pieces attacking President Jackson (portrayed as a wild boar or a jackass) are quite common in worn condition. The tokens of this period have been the subject of several books (the current standard reference is Hard Times Tokens by Russell Rulau, Second Edition) and bring the highest prices of any American tokens after the Colonial period; $6,000 was paid for a single token at the March 26-27, 1980 Garrett Sale, and many other tokens brought four-figure prices.
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