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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;John Anthony, post: 2123659, member: 42773&quot;]I don&#039;t suppose I need to explain Hard Times Tokens to anyone here but myself, but the gist of it is that Andrew Jackson and his Treasury Secretary Levi Woodbury issued a resounding economic blunder known as the Specie Circular in 1836. Banks were required to accept only gold and silver in payment for land. The idea was to bolster reserves, as the banks at this time were issuing piles of unbacked paper money (shinplaster). The law backfired as citizens hoarded their coins and made a run on the banks.</p><p><br /></p><p>On May 10, 1837, banks in New York suspended specie payments altogether, meaning, your paper money was now worthless. The reasons for the Panic of 1837 and the recession that followed are numerous and complex. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_of_1837" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_of_1837" rel="nofollow">Wiki</a> is a good start on the subject, but the economic analysis of this period is still hotly debated. At any rate, the hoarding of official coin always results in a plethora of token issues, in this case Hard Times Tokens.</p><p><br /></p><p>This one is Rulau HT 67. It is always interesting to me to find a coin or token that references a specific historical event, in this case the suspension of specie payments on May 10, 1837. NOV<u>R</u> refers to November 27th, 1836, on which date bankers from nineteen states met in New York, and set the resumption of specie payments to May 10, 1838. The phoenix would rise from the flames of burning shinplaster. (As it was, the recession lasted a few more years - recovery did not come quickly.)</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]403010[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>This appears to be one of the common HTT&#039;s, easy to collect in pleasing grades. The issue is anonymous.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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