United States · private exonumia
Cent-sized token coin, 1837
Cent-sized token · Hard Times · 1837
Copper token HT-34 (Low-20), 1837: a galloping jackass on the obverse and a tortoise with a SUB TREASURY chest on the reverse. R-1 on the Hard Times/Fuld rarity scale, not Sheldon. No serial and unslabbed.
Catalog facts
- Year
- 1837
- Mint
- Private striking (no federal mint)
- Denomination
- Cent-sized token (large-cent module)
- Composition
- Copper
- Weight
- Not weighed for this record
- Diameter
- ≈ 28.5 mm
- Edge
- Plain
- Condition
- Unslabbed (private collection)
- References
- HT-34 · Low-20 · R-1
Obverse
Reverse
The coin
This piece is a copper Hard Times token, large-cent module, struck privately during the Panic of 1837 to circulate as small change. The obverse shows a galloping jackass on a turf line, with the legend I FOLLOW IN THE STEPS OF MY ILLUSTRIOUS PREDECESSOR. The reverse shows a tortoise carrying a strongbox marked SUB TREASURY, with EXECUTIVE FINANCIERING, the date 1837, and FISCAL AGENT. The edge is plain. It is not a United States Mint cent and not type HT-33, which uses the same imagery but reads EXECUTIVE EXPERIMENT. This example has no serial number and no grading holder.
Legends
- Obverse
- I FOLLOW IN THE STEPS OF MY ILLUSTRIOUS PREDECESSOR. Galloping jackass; STEPS beneath the animal.
- Reverse
- EXECUTIVE FINANCIERING · 1837 · FISCAL AGENT. SUB TREASURY chest on a tortoise.
History
The type mocked Martin Van Buren and Andrew Jackson, whom the opposition blamed for the banking crash. The obverse motto quotes Van Buren’s pledge to follow Jackson’s hard-money policy against the Second Bank; the jackass puns on Jackson and, decades later, Thomas Nast popularized it as the Democratic Party’s symbol. The reverse attacks the Independent Treasury — the Sub-Treasury — as a government remedy that moved at a tortoise’s pace. Low (1899) numbered this variety Low-20; Rulau catalogs it HT-34. This record does not publish a type mintage or a slab census.
Scarcity and type
R-1 on the rarity scale used for Hard Times and Civil War tokens (Rulau/Fuld): common, not the Sheldon scale of federal coin. The type is readily found; this record describes the photographed example — FINANCIERING legend, unslabbed — and not a price. It does not republish a price range or a PCGS or NGC census.
Certification
The example is raw, with no NGC, PCGS, or other holder. Hard Times tokens of this type carry no serial number. The identity of this record is the photographed object — HT-34, Low-20, EXECUTIVE FINANCIERING 1837 — not a certificate. If it is later slabbed, the cert number will replace this note.
Sources
- Wikipedia — Hard times token (opens in a new tab)
Context for the Panic of 1837 and private small change. Prices are not republished.
- CoinWeek — The Strange Story of Hard Time Tokens (opens in a new tab)
Jacksonian satire, iconography, and circulation as small change.
- NGC — Hard Times Tokens (Rulau) (opens in a new tab)
Rulau HT as catalog attribution; Low-20 is this variety’s cross-reference.
Related pieces
Other records from the same issuer or era in this case.
