There was a Hard Times token recently posted, it generated some commentary on the number of varieties that exist. I would be curious to know if this particular one as well has varieties. I enjoy these tokens primarily for their wit, something that is normally not possible on coins, and thus an angle of history that is only viewed on old newspaper political cartoons. Hard Times token L18, HT32 Obverse: Turtle crawling right with treasure chest on back - EXECUTIVE EXPERIMENT - FISCAL AGENT and date 1837 Reverse: Unicorn running left - I FOLLOW IN THE STEPS OF MY ILLUSTRIOUS PREDECESSOR
Is that actually a unicorn? When I first looked at it I saw a donkey. Looking at it again, I still see a donkey.
I am under the same impression...the "ear" on the far side of the creatures head makes it look like a Unicorn protruding from the upper skull..LOL RickieB
Thanks, I wondered about that as well, it does look a bit like an ear. I had assumed the symbolism was meant to invoke a mythological animal. That makes sense though, Jackson as a jackass.
This is definitely one of the anti-Jackson tokens lol... a pretty witty one at that. That's definitely a jackass, not a unicorn. At the time a jackass would symbolise someone who is very stubborn and not too bright. (The fact that it's runnning left probably signfies the assertion that Jackson's closing of the bank is a move backward, as the turtle carrying the treasure chest asserts that Jackson's policies have slowed economic progress.) Are also quite a few pro-Jackson tokens that actually supported Jackson closing down the US Bank. There were some people at the time that believed as Jackson did, that in the long run the US would be better off without it, and also many who placed the blame on the president of the US Bank, not on Jackson, for the money shortage (the president of the US Bank had called in all loans in protest of Jackson attempting to shut the US Bank down to try to force Jackson's hand. That did cause many to blame Jackson for the crisis, but it had the opposite intended effect for some also, as it caused many to blame the president of the bank for the crisis. Ultimately Jackson wasn't swayed by this stunt and he closed the bank down anyway.) Not much of a token collecter but I'd love to acquire one of these lol... a great conversation piece. It seems modern political cartoons just don't put as much thought into political statements as tokens like this did.
There are 8 varieties for this style of token, 5 die pairings, 2 planchet size variations, and 1 off metal (silver). Guess which one is the big buck variety - yup, an Unc silver one lists for $7500. BTW, the token pictured in the OP is HT33, not HT32, still an R1 rarity token, but slightly less valuable than an HT32 in the mid grades. A bit of explanation for the wording on the token for those who may not know or have a bit of interest: The "EXECUTIVE EXPERIMENT", which was the most notable achievement of Jackson's administration, was the separation of Bank and State. The success of this experiment is due the creation of the Subtreasury system, which eventually took form in 1846. On September 2, 1837, the Independent Treasury Bill was introduced in Congress and promptly rejected. A modified version was passed in 1840, but was repealed under Tyler. Over time, these policies became established within the government without regard to any political party. Essentially, the experiment was to remove government funds from State Banks (private institutions) and deposit them where United States Government officials would have control. By doing this, the Treasury no longer was dependent upon the Banks for its fiscal dealings. A "FISCAL AGENT" was an agent of the government that dealt with the fiscal dealings of the Treasury: collection, safe-keeping, transfer, and disbursement of public monies. No one else could perform these tasks. The animal depicted on the OP's token is indeed a running jackass, not a unicorn. Although not found on this particular style of token, some of the other styles of Jackson/running jackass tokens display an "LLD" on the body of the jackass. This was poking fun of Jackson's honorary Doctorate of Laws bestowed upon Jackson by Harvard College in 1832. While Andrew Jackson was a noted military hero, he was not an educated man, and was the subject of much ridicule. Some of the HTTs with the "LLD" show Jackson protruding from a money chest with a bag of money in one hand and a sword in the other. This was depicting a (re-ocurring) fear of the day that the liberties of the Union were threatened "by union of the purse and the sword in the same hands" - referenceing Presidential power over both the nation's money and military. Here is a brief timeline of events related to this and other HTTs (the Hard Time Era was from 1832 from 1844): 1828 - Andrew Jackson defeats John Quincy Adams' re-election bid. 1832 - Jackson receives an honorary Docorate of Law from Harvard College. 1832 - Jackson campaigns against Henry Clay by taking a stand against the Second Bank of the United States. He enjoys an overwhelming victory. Upon returning to office, he wishes to deminish the effectiveness of the Bank (which was chartered up through 1836), Jackson removes federal deposits from it and deposits them in state banks. This and his July 1836 Specie Circular were a couple of the primary causes of the nationwide financial panic of 1837 as well as the resultant depression. 1835 - The great fire occurs in New York City (mentioned on HT291, 292 & 293). 648 houses were destroyed, and the city lost $18 million, then an enormous amount. The devastation is at least partially due to the city's lack of an adequate water supply. Feb, 1836 - Facing liquidation as an institution in March, 1836 because of the nearing expiration of its federal charter, the Bank of the Unitied States and its 29 branches, obtained a charter from the state of Pennsylvania. After its federal charter expires, it continues to do business as the Bank of the United States of Pennsylvania, although it made little effort to distinguish itself from its old and familiar name. This bank becomes a major factor in events a few years down they road. May, 1836 - Martin Van Buren (Jackson's VP) is nominated for the presidency. He was also opposed to rechartering the Bank of the United States. His biggest problem was the nation's depressed economy, and he pushed for a separate Treasury (apart from the U.S. government) so that any Treasury surpluses would not be passed out to the states. His stand caused him to lose support of many conservative Democrats, as well as the Whig Party. early summer, 1836 - Facing monumental problems due to the wild issue of bank paper money in the West, as well as excessive speculation in public lands, President Jackson decides to put a stop to them. Unfortunately, his measures are so drastic that the country will plunge from inflation into disaster in a matter of weeks after Van Buren's inaugeration. July 11, 1836 - Jackson issued the Specie Circular. This imposed the restriction that nothing but gold or silver coin could be accepted as payment for the sale of public lands after the date of Aug. 15. While hoping to stop the ruinous speculation in public lands and hopefully lessen the effects of the rampant inflation, Jackson's cure was worse than the ailments. The actual result was that much of the gold drained to the West, causing consternation in the East. Hard Times were about to arrive in a crushing fashion. Payments were not being made, and many loans were about to be called. The stage is set. March, 1837 - a financial panic in England touches off devastating occurences in the U.S. Three large New Orleans cotton companies go bankrupt. April, 1837 - Financial panic is quickly spreading. 128 companies in New York City alone had gone under, 100 of which were banks. May, 1837 - A run started on virtully all banks in the nation, resulting in suspension of specie (coin) payments on May 10. Side note - last year in Guatemala I saw first hand the effects of such a bank run. Banks there were paying only 20 cents on the dollar for any funds withdrawn from the bank. ATMs were constantly empty, money was not circulating. Devastating. summer, 1837 - 90 percent of Eastern factories had shut down. Many people starved and froze during the winter of 1837-1838 Somewhat out of chronological order, but I felt a continuem of the background info was important to develop a feel for how things were going in the country in those days. Van Buren had won the election, and in his inaugural address, Van Buren stated "I follow in the steps of my illustrious predecessor", referring to Jackson. Political cartoonists of the day wasted no time in depicting Van Buren carefully stepping in the footprints of a jackass, a sentiment that can be found on a fair number of HTTs. 1838 - Many banks resumed the specie payments that they had suspended in May, 1837. The banking system appeared to be returning to normal. Oct, 1839 - Hard Times quickly and dramatically returned. The Bank of the U.S. of Pennsylvania, the nation's largest state bank at the time, suspended operations. It had overextended itself trying to help out the Southern cotton banks. The financial crashing became a roar once again. The Southern Banks and most banks in Pennsylvania suspended specie payments again. During this time, more than 100 additional banks failed. 1840 - William Henry Harrison soundly defeats Van Buren's re-election bid, largely by saying nothing. Feb, 1841 - The Bank of the U.S. of Pennsylvania itself fails outright, owing other banks $7.5 million. The country is thoroughly shaken by this failure, and Southern banks suspend specie payments for a third time. 91 more banks fail in 1841. The panic of 1837, accompanied by an overwhelming number of worthless fractional notes (shin plasters), resulted in the hoarding of circulating coins, and the appearance of Hard Times tokens somewhat relieved some of that hardship. That so many of these are well worn are a testimony to the usefullness that they served. There are interesting pieces of script associated with the Hard Times Era as well, but they are harder to come by. There were literally hundreds of different parody bank notes issued (such as from the Humbug Glory Bank), with Rulau's catalog showing some interesting examples. I have only seen a few examples, none of which were for sale. Hopefully some readers will find this background information worthwhile, but this is but just some of the highlights. The colorful history and background associated with some of these tokens is why I love to collect them, I just wish I could remember all that I have read about them, lol.
that is some very cool information. thanks for digging it up and sharing. Alot of info in that post that is new to me. Very cool
Worthwhile? I saved it to my hard drive so I can find it again. Some people don't like long posts. I'm not one of those people. Especially when the post is as good as that.
Count me in. I think engineers are hardwired to explain things in detail (sometimes to the point of overexplaining). I am guilty of that myself but it is just the nature of an engineer.
Thanks for all of the words of appreciation. I also appreciate all of the sharing that so many others do on this site as well, and I know that I am negligent about expressing my gratitude enough, so thanks for sharing, everyone! Hobo, my wife and kids would probably say that it is past the point of overexplaining.:rolling:
