Featured Andrew Jackson’s “Mint Drops”

Discussion in 'US Coins Forum' started by johnmilton, Apr 5, 2020.

  1. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member


    Greetings, "fellow prisoners!" Today I had one of my two days “out of captivity,” to go food shopping. I wore a mask as the president has asked and thought that I was going to smother. The thing fogged my glasses, which was annoying enough, but I felt like my head was in a box.


    At any rate, here is another article. I hope you like it.


    Andrew Jackson is best remembered for two events. First, his dramatic victory over the British at The Battle of New Orleans in January 1815 brought honor to the U.S. after our country suffered the humiliation of watching our capital, Washington, DC, burn. Second, his “war” against The Bank of the United States during his presidency ended the federal charter for that institution.

    Today Jackson’s “bank war” policies get mixed reviews. Some historians, such as Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. have held that the bank had excessive powers. Jackson’s policies were necessary to prevent wealthy individuals from controlling the United States economy and receiving unfair profits. More recently, Jackson critics have argued that his anti-bank policy helped to bring on the Panic of 1837, which was a major economic depression. Whatever the merits of Jackson’s bank policies most all numismatic historians agree than his monetary reforms were effective because they finally got significant numbers of U.S. gold coins into circulation in the domestic economy.

    Low #1 is one of the most desirable Hard Times Tokens. This is the only piece that presented Jackson's "bank war" in a favorable light. This is tough and expensive token. I have tried to upgrade this one a couple of times, but have always been "the bride's maid" at the auction, finishing second.

    Low 1b O.jpg Low 1b R.jpg

    The 1824 Jackson presidential campaign was the first issue tokens to promote his election. This piece, which extolls Jackson's military record, is fairly common.

    AJACK 1824-2 O.jpg AJACK 1824-2 R.jpg


    Prior to the passage of the Coinage Act of 1792, treasury secretary, Alexander Hamilton, conducted a survey of the weights of the gold and silver coins that were circulating in the New York City area where he lived. Hamilton concluded that 15 parts of silver were equal in value to one part of gold. That ratio was applied to the standard weights for the U.S. gold and silver coinage that were authorized by the Coinage Act of 1792.

    Hamilton’s survey may have been wrong from the beginning, but by 1799 it was definitely incorrect. The early U.S. gold coins weighed too much relative to the early silver pieces, and merchants were exporting large numbers of U.S. silver and gold coins out of The United States. Those exports of precious metals prompted President Thomas Jefferson to suspend the coinage of silver dollars and ten dollar gold pieces in 1804. For than 30 years U.S. mint production of gold coins was limited to small mintages of quarter eagles ($2.50 gold) and larger amounts of half eagles ($5.00 gold).

    By 1821 the price of gold had risen to the point where virtually no U.S. gold coins were circulating in The United States. Nearly all of the mintages of $5 gold pieces were exported, mainly to Europe, where they were melted. It is for this reason that all half eagle dates in the 1820s and early 1830s are rare and seldom available to collectors.

    Gold pieces dated in the 1820s, like this 1825 $2.50 gold were rarely seen in the United States. Most of these coins were melted and are hard to find today.

    1825 Qua Eag An O.jpg 1825 Qua Eag An R.jpg


    Andrew Jackson disliked banks and the paper money they issued. He believed that he could bring economic stability and prosperity to yeoman farmers and wage earners by authorizing the U.S. mint to produce small denomination gold coins in large quantities. To this end Jackson’s most loyal supporter in the United States Congress, Senator Thomas Hart Benton, introduced legislation that reduced the weight of U.S. gold coins and increased the ratio of silver to gold for U.S. coinage to 16 to 1. Benton’s coinage bill became law on June 28, 1834 and took effect on August 1 of that same year.

    1834 Classic Head Quarter Eagle

    1834 Classic Qu Eag O.jpg 1834 Classic Qu Eag R.jpg

    1834 Classic Head Half Eagle

    1834$5ngcO.JPG 1834$5ngcR.JPG

    Next posting!

     
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  3. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    After August 1, 1834, the earlier $2.50 and $5.00 gold coins that U.S. mint had issued prior to that date were subjected to another round of melting. To put it simply, one could have gone to the U.S. mint with 15 of the old $5 gold pieces, deposited them to be re-coined and would have received 16 of the new $5 gold pieces in return. Obviously this was a huge incentive to turn in the “old-tenor” gold coins for melting and re-coinage which is one more reason why these coins are so rare today.

    For example the 1834 large size Capped Head $5 gold pieces that were issued during the first part of 1834 have a mintage of 50,141 pieces. Today there are probably no more than 50 to 60 of these coins known to collectors, and 1834 is the most common date in the series. Overall it has been estimated that only 239 coins have survived from the 668,200 coins that were reported to have been minted between 1829 and 1834.

    An 1834 "old tenor gold" $5 gold piece. This is the most common date, but it is still a very scarce coin.

    1834 Cap Old O.jpg 1834 Cap Old R.jpg


    Collectors call the smaller $2.50 and $5.00 gold coins that the mint issued starting in August 1834 the Classic Heads. These coins are fairly common, and they are often seen in large quantities at major coin conventions and in auctions. The Classic Head $2.50 and $5.00 are usually available in grades ranging from VF to AU. Strictly Mint State Classic Head gold coins are quite rare because once these pieces went into circulation, they stayed there. Very few of these coins were set aside by collectors and other individuals.

    Although Jackson’s monetary policies toward gold coinage proved to be successful, that did not stop his contemporary critics from lambasting him and his hand-picked successor, President Martin Van Buren. A number of Hard Times tokens carry phrases like “mint drop,” “metallic currency,” “Benton currency,” and “Benton experiment.” Most of these tokens are fairly common, but the prices for nicely preserved Hard Times tokens have been increasing in recent years. Still nice examples in Choice VF and EF can still be found for less than $100.


    This Hard Times Token, Low 55, called the Classic Head gold coins "mint drops." It also satarized some the Jackson's supporters, the "loco focos" and senator Thomas Hart Benton.


    Low 55 O.jpg Low 55 R.jpg

    This Hard Times Tokens, Low 51, is quite common. It shows jackson emerging from a strong box, blaming him for the economic slow down. The reverse shows a donkey with an "LLD" on his belly. It is both a bad pun on Jackson's name and demeanor (stubborn jack ass) and the fact that Harvard awarded him an honorary Doctor of Law, much to the disapproval of some who had graduated from there.

    HT 70 O final.jpg HT 70 R final.jpg

    Andrew Jackson’s gold coin reform proved to be a durable piece of legislation. The weight standards the $2.50 and $5.00 gold coins would remain the same until the last business strike examples of those two denominations were issued in 1929. The other U.S. gold denominations would be issued with weights that were proportional to the Jackson standards for their respective face values. In fact the modern commemorative five and ten dollar gold coins that the modern U.S. mint has issued up the present time are still tied to the metallic standards and weights that Andrew Jackson and Thomas Hart Benton proposed in 1834.

    I have many other political Hard Times Tokens. If you would like to look at more of them, we can continue with this.
     
  4. longshot

    longshot Enthusiast Supporter

    Please do, I find them interesting. I have 2 or 3 of the common ones, and would have more if I could buy everything I like.:)
     
    Randy Abercrombie likes this.
  5. Gallienus

    Gallienus coinsandhistory.com

    I enjoy this series although I've only one smaller US gold coin in my whole collection (other than dollars): a circulated 1912 Indian $5: which was given to me.

    In recent years I've tried to buy a nice unc Classic Head $5 at auction, without blemishes or unsightly bag marks but have always been outbid. Also since I mainly collect foreign coins, my budget for US stuff is limited.

    I also have a few of the hard times tokens including possibly that Jackson example you listed above.
     
  6. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    Strictly Mint State Classic Head gold coins are very scarce. Collectors simply could not afford to put away $2.50 or $5.00 just the sit. Besides that, you could save quantities of other coins for the same money ... 500 large cents for example.

    Most of the certified "Mint State" Classic Head gold coins are not really Mint State. They are, at best, nice AUs.

    Here is the best MS-61 graded piece I have seen. This one is semi P-L and very impressive in person. My photos tend to amplify every mark. I would have loved to have seen this one when it first came off the dies.

    1836 $5 2 O.jpg 1836 $5 2 R.jpg

    I bought this 1836 quarter eagle as an AU circa 1970. Today it's in a PCGS MS-62 holder.

    1836QEagleO.JPG 1836QEagleR.JPG
     
  7. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    Let's do a common one and a rare one.

    This one uses sailing ships to make its point. The obverse shows "the good ship Daniel Webster" sailing along peacefully. The reveres shows "the wrecked ship Martin Van Buren" on the rocks because of "metallic currency" (Classic Head gold coins).

    Webster is famous historical figure today, who is noted as a great public speaker. His hopes to be elected president never took off, however.

    Low 64 O.jpg Low 64 R.jpg

    Here is a very tough Martin Van Buren variety. This piece is almost always quite ugly. There is book called The True Hard Times Tokens. The author, Robert A. Schuman, is a very well to do doctor who collects the best. It's the only piece in my collection that is mentioned in his book.

    Low 57 O.jpg Low 57 R.jpg

    The subtreasury was the Democrat's answer to how the government paid its bills. After first Jackson put the government's money in "pet banks," but when some them failed and lost government money, the Democrats pushed for the sub treasury system which did the government's banking.

    The subtreasury was in existence until the early 20th century.
     
    longshot, Mainebill and ldhair like this.
  8. physics-fan3.14

    physics-fan3.14 You got any more of them.... prooflikes?

    That's really funny, because I currently work on the real "good ship Daniel Webster."

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Daniel_Webster_(SSBN-626)
     
    ldhair and johnmilton like this.
  9. Publius2

    Publius2 Well-Known Member

    Ah, @physics-fan3.14, so you work in the reactor prototype training command. My son served on the attack boats Virginia and Missouri and prototype-trained at Balston Spa. I had the unique privilege of taking a "Tiger Cruise" on the Missouri out of Groton, CT. What an experience that was but I sure enjoyed the sunlight streaming down the hatch at the end.
     
  10. Publius2

    Publius2 Well-Known Member

    @johnmilton, please continue your dissertations on Hard Times Tokens and any other topic you think might be interest to the membership. I am certainly enjoying them immensely.
     
    Randy Abercrombie likes this.
  11. Conder101

    Conder101 Numismatist

    His policies toward the gold coinage were good, it was his policies toward the Bank of the United States and the moving of Treasury funds into smaller "pet" banks that later failed and the economic collapse which resulted in the critical Hard Times tokens
     
  12. TheFinn

    TheFinn Well-Known Member

    It is ironic that his (Andrew Jackson) portrait is on the $20 FRN. I don't know if Jackson would be happy as a "ha, ha", or ashamed.

    The bank, Mr. Van Buren, is trying to kill me, but I will kill it.
    - Said to Martin Van Buren, 8 July 1832
     
  13. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    I have heard that there are Native Americans who don’t like $20 bills because Jackson is on it. The expulsion of the Cherokee Indians and resulting Trail of Tears was the worst period of his presidency.
     
    DonnaML and TheFinn like this.
  14. TheFinn

    TheFinn Well-Known Member

    Definitely a complicated man, to say the least.
     
  15. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    Here are two pro Whig Party Hard Times tokens. These two pieces recall the first mayoral election in New York City. Prior to 1834, the mayor had been selected by the Common Council, which is the historical equivalent of the modern City Council. The man they usually chose was often a wealthy businessman who could be bought. In 1834, it was decided to hold the first election for mayor.

    Politics was not a genteel sport in the 1830s. The opposing sides often battled it out in the streets with knives and clubs. Ballots were destroyed, and the three days of balloting, April 8, 9 and 10 were anything but peaceful.

    The Whigs held a violent and vitriolic parade. Its centerpiece was a frigate they labeled “Constitution” which they dragged up Broadway. The Democrats countered by marching to Wall Street where they threatened a Whig newspaper owner who held them off at gun point. Overall one man was killed and 20 others were wounded.

    At the end of three days of balloting, the Democratic candidate, Cornelius Van Wyck Lawrence won by just 180 votes over Whig Guilian Verplanck. Despite their loss, the Whigs proclaimed a moral victory because in the past, the Democrats had totally dominated the electoral process.

    Here are the two tokens that proclaimed that event, early in the Whig Party’s existence. Both of the feature the Constitution, which became a symbol for the Whig Party. This first one is fairly scarce.

    Low 6 O.jpg Low 6 R.jpg

    The second one is better executed. This variety is fairly raw, and this example is among the finest known. For once I was in the right place at the right time!

    Low 7 Obv.jpg Low 7 Rev.jpg
     
    longshot likes this.
  16. Gallienus

    Gallienus coinsandhistory.com

    Yes and this is partially why I have so much trouble collecting US coins and have moved to foreign. My experience from long ago was that if a coin had what they used to call "cabinet friction" was that it is AU.

    When I look at US gold coins at auctions on-line, they invariably appear very unattractive. The following is my experience:
    ms-62: circulated
    ms-63: badly scuffed up
    ms-64: not too scuffy (unless a $20 gold) but with a big scratch running, at least, 3/4 across the cheek

    Of course there are always exceptions. Some "+" coins or CAC coins at the 62 level appear unc but those always go for a big premium.
    With foreign coins I call and get an eye-on description of each & every piece I bid on unless other circumstances mitigate.
     
  17. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    Don't hang you hat on the CAC coins. One of the last big deals I was looking to make on a U.S. coin was for a CAC accepted MS-63 graded Classic Head $2.50. The coin was really a lightly cleaned AU-55. That didn't stop the dealer from wanting a premium MS-63 price for it that was even higher than the PCGS price guide.

    This is why I too do not buy expensive U.S. coins any more.

    There are properly graded U.S. gold coins out there. You have to know how to grade to find them. You can't put your faith in slab grades and stickers.
     
  18. Gallienus

    Gallienus coinsandhistory.com

    Yes, I know. I often disagree with NGC grading and will look at nice-appearing CAC or + ms-62 Classic Heads but simply don't want to spend the $ necessary to get a full "attractive" 63.

    Here's a cheaper foreign coin which I think was a little undergraded in a 62 slab. But it also shows the insanity of just a number.

    [​IMG]
    Among other things, I collect the early coinage of Independent Latin American countries. This is the country of Peru's 1st gold coin & the finest known specimen. It's a NGC-62. It's ex-Eliasberg & then resold during a summer Heritage auction where I snagged it for [I think] a little under $4k.

    There is NO high point friction, & NO hairlines [endemic on Latin American coinage]. Some scattered light bagmarks in the obverse fields but no scratches. The only reason it's a 62 are the obvious flan problems reverse. However come on, this was the new country of Peru, having won their Revolutionary war against Spain that same year. They were having a really difficult time making any coinage.

    Yes it's a 62 but due to the flan flaws from a country just emerging from a revolutionary war, things were a little different than say England in the 1820's. I actually have another one of these: a little nicer, a cameo PL 1840 but still a NGC-62.
     
    Last edited: Apr 9, 2020
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