Hard Times Tokens areAmericanlarge cent orhalf-cent-sizedcopper or brasstokens, struck from about 1833 through 1843, serving as unofficialcurrency. These privately made pieces, comprising merchant, political and satirical pieces, were used during a time of political and financial crisis in the United States.[1]
Today, hard-times tokens are collected ascoins and as political history.[2]
In 1832, PresidentAndrew Jackson ran for re-election and called for the abolition of theSecond Bank of the United States. While he won the election, he worked to weaken the bank before the charter expired in 1836. Without the Bank of the United States, state banks attempted to fill the paper money gap and issued a large number of bank notes, which fueledinflation. Hoping to halt the inflation and speculation inpublic lands, Jackson and his Treasury secretary,Levi Woodbury, issued theSpecie Circular on July 11, 1836. The circular simply stated that as of August 15, 1836, banks and others who received public money were required to accept onlygold andsilver coins in payment for public lands.[3]
Instead of the intended results, the circular spelled the end of a time of economic prosperity. The circular set into motion a panic, and the public began hoardingspecie. Without specie to pay out, banks and merchants began having financial troubles. It wasn't too long before the effects of Jackson's decision were felt across the nation as banks and businesses failed, and a depression ensued.[3]
By this time, Jackson's vice president,Martin Van Buren, was the elected president in office. The period of economic hardship, thePanic of 1837, during Van Buren's presidency came to be known as the "Hard Times".[3]
Hard times tokens have been cataloged by Russell Rulau, based on earlier work by Lyman H. Low, and his numbering of types is the standard. Rulau classifies tokens broadly into:[4]
