I did a little local auction last week. I put a twenty dollar bid on this one and won it for thirteen. Thought it was a fun little win, but I won't have it until Monday.
There is a lot of history with this piece. This was issued after Andrew Jackson won "the bank war" and refused the Bank of the United a charter renewal. The bank charter had its flaws. Unlike the modern Federal Reserve, the bank had stockholders, and it was a for-profit business. The good thing about the bank was that it could keep the state banks honest. It often sent their bank notes to them and forced them to back those notes with gold and silver, which as a good thing. Jackson was a hard money man who didn't like banks and the paper money they issued. He believed in hard money, gold and silver. ("My currency") That limited the amount banks could loan, which made the Panic of 1837 worse. So when the hard times came, Jackson's critics blamed him. "My third heat" on the "hog wild" refers to Jackson's third run for the presidency. He ran in 1824 and lost, but ran again in 1828 and 1832 (the third heat) where he won. Jackson is a controversial historical figure, right down to the present day. Edited
Okay, after three attempts at drafting a post about Jackson's likely opinions on any of our recent leadership, my sense of self-preservation is telling me to walk away.
Jackson's biggest political opponent was Henry Clay. Jackson wanted to hang him. He blamed Clay and his supporters for the death of his wife, Rachel, who died of a heart attack. The Clay people accused Jackson of bigamy. It wasn't true, but it upset Mrs. Jackson so much that Jackson claimed it caused her fatal heart attack.
I write articles for hobby magazines now and then. Most recently I have had articles published in "FUN Topics" the FUN club magazine.
I enjoy a good Hard Times Token. I recommend the book "Hard Times tokens: A complete revision and enlargement of Lyman H. Low's 1899 classic reference" by Russell Rulau. Great reference and used copies are cheap.
