Millions For Defence. Defense is the correct spelling. I’m not sure if this is considered an error. Any input would be helpful. One Cent For Tribute. Merchants Exchange of Wall St. N. York
Defence is spelled the same on this token but this token is Not One Cent For Tribute. It’s dated 1837 which was an era of coin shortages and financial problems.
I have the lady token and I think I have the top one as well but no pics. Hope you don't mind but I really appreciate that you post tokens, I see it as an opportunity to post a couple of mine!
Nit a problem @fretboard and I enjoyed looking at your tokens too. But I have to admit that’s the first time I’ve ever seen an elephant wearing boots.
How about a Knickerbocker Civil War Token? Fuld 390a/255 When you don't have the cash, an I.O.U. will do. Z
The first token you posted at one time read Not One Cent For Tribute. A light reminant of the word "Not" it is still partly visable.
I never noticed that. It’s not really worn above or below the NOT so it must have been filled with grease. Thanks.
Both spellings are correct, CN. Defence is "British English" while defense is "American English." There was a lot of British influence still during that period of our history. Bruce
Research has revealed that this Civil War token was not issued by the City of New York. It was issued for a Hudson River riverboat which had that name. The "NOT" was sometimes scratched off these pieces in an effort to make it easier to pass them. This may have been done after the Hard Times period had passed. The "NOT" was originally put there to avoid having problems with the counterfeiting laws. These tokens resembled the large cents, but they were not copies. I've been looking for a "SPOOT" token for quite a while. It is supposed to be common, but most of the pieces I have found had problems. When I was dealer, I only handled one that was nice. I wish I had kept it. During my time as a dealer I handled thousands of Civil War tokens. I usually had at least 4 or 5 hundred in stock.
"Millions for defense, not one cent for tribute" was first used as a political slogan in the late 1790s during the XYZ Affair blow-up with France. I've researched for years as to why it was used during the Hard Times period. It may have just been a way to incorporate "NOT One Cent" into the token's design. There are many Hard Times token varieties which carry this slogan. This piece, Low #21, HTT 35, is said to be one of the very first varieties made. The obverse die is always broken.
Given the timeframe I was thinking it had some relation to with politics like turtle carrying a chest did. Good luck on finding a nice SPOOT for your collection. I thought I had photos of mine big zI can’t find them.
