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Hard Times Tokens
H
6
1.
LOW 13. WILLIAM SEWARD TOKEN, HT 26; CE 1834-
8.
27mm. Brass. 5.5 grams. AU with some scattered light
tarnish and a thin scratch extending from in front of the bust into
the forehead. A bust of William Seward to the left is on the
obverse, while an eagle similar to that used on the U.S. silver
and gold coinage of the period is on the reverse. The reverse
legend reads: A FAITHFUL FRIEND TO OUR COUNTRY.
Seward was the unsuccessful Whig candidate for Governor of
New York in 1834. He was finally elected in 1838. (G)
2.
LOW 74. EPHRIAM A. HATHAWAY, PROVIDENCE
, RI.
HT 428. NGC MS AU 58 BN. (F)
3.
LOW 142. BERGEN IRON WORKS, LAKEWOOD, NJ.
HT 205
. 20.9mm. 3.2 grams. Brass. XF. Weakly struck at the
centers as always due to inept die cutting which placed the area
in highest relief on the obverse directly opposite in the dies
to the area of highest relief on the reverse, with the result that
planchets, when compressed, could not fill to the full extent
both openings. (F-G)
4.
LOW 155. T.D.SEAMAN, BELLEVILLE, NJ. HT 204B
.
R5. 27.6mm. Copper. VF/XF. The steer used on this token is
the same as that used on Low 66 and Low 151. (H)
5.
LOW 156. N. STARBUCK, TROY, NY, HT 366.
R6. 28mm.
9.4 grams. Copper. Overall Very Fine with two short dark marks
in front of the faced, as shown. Obverse with a bust right with no
stars under the bust. (Same as Low 88.) Reverse is the same as
the reverse of the Low 284, N. Starbuck & Son die. The token
is always weakly struck from 8:00-10:00 on the obverse and on
the corresponding area on the reverse. The stars behind the head
on this example are all visible. On the reverse, the entire legend
is also visible. MACHINE, which is usually quite weak, is
complete and clearly visible. The high points of the screw are
flat, as always. The interior inscription is generally well struck
with the exception of the R in PAPER which is weak (G-H)
6.
LOW 180. BERGEN IRON WORKS, LAKEWOOD, NJ.
HT 205A.
R4. 21.2mm. 3.2 grams. Copper. VF/XF. Softly
struck at the centers on both sides as always. This token is
struck from the same dies as the more common Low 142, but
in copper. (F)
Lot 5
7.
AN UNLISTED VARIETY OF LOW 302, E & I BRAGAW,
NEWARK NJ & MOBILE,
AL. HT 207. 27mm. Brass. Plain
Edge. Struck by Wright and Bale. Overall with Very Fine detail
but with uniform corroded surfaces on both sides. There is a very
minor bend in the planchet that does not appreciably detract.
The reverse of this token is from a different die than appears on
the Rulau Plate token and on the specimen of Low 303 which we
sold as lot #67 in our 2004 Litman, Sullivan &Dreyfuss Sale. The
major differences are as follows: On this die there is a decorative
stop at 6:00 between the words DESCRIPTION and HATS and
there is no period after DESCRIPTIONS. On the other die, there
is a period after DESCRIPTION and no stop between that word
and HATS. In addition, the positioning of the letters in relation to
each other is considerably different on both dies.
A specimen struck from the same die as offered here appeared
in our 2014 Auction Eighty-Four. That example, in VG with
corroded surfaces, realized $1897.50 We sold a VF/XF example
of this rarity in our 2007 Auction Seventy Seven (#184) for
$2760.00 to Steve Tanenbaum, David Bowers recently re-
offered at a fixed price of $4400.00. This is only the fourth
known example of this variety.
8.
HT 225. J.W.B. COUNTERSTAMP, NYC.
Brunk B-55.
J.W.B. in relief within a rectangle has been c/s on the obverse of
an AG 1835 large cent. Brunk has attributed this c/s to the NYC
silversmith, James W. Beebe, who worked in the 1835-1845 time
frame. An example with a single c/s brought $201.00 in our
2013 sale. (F-G)
9.
LOW 240. DAY, NEWELL & DAY, NYC. HT 247A.
2 7mm . Brass. (Wright & Bale) VF. A few spots and light
field marks. Originally acquired by Steve Tanenbaum from our
38
th
Sale in 1985 (No lot envelope) for $435.00 and subsequently
reoffered by Q. David Bowers who described it as “Well-struck
and attractive, High R-8 or R-9 (unique), first and only ever
reported to SLT.” ($900-1100)
Lot 7 (enlarged)
Lot 9
Lot 1