~ Copper 4 The Weekend™ ~

Broadstruck

Circa 1906 "In Copper We Trust" Douglas, Arizona "Lady Luck Awaits You" 32mm Diameter, Copper.

I've been patiently looking for a high grade "Lady Luck Awaits You" reverse variety for 5 years which even John J. Ford, Jr. was missing from his collection. Always encoutered weakly struck and slightly misaligned as the obverse die was repurposed by L.A. Rubber Stamp Company after the original Douglas "Copper City Of The Southwest" Arizona copper mine town token strikes had been completed.

Douglas in Cochise County was founded in 1901 and incorporated in 1905 and was a smelter town for copper mines. The early 1900’s brought new recognition to this area when Phelps Dodge selected the Douglas area as a suitable site for its copper smelting activity. Bisbee’s copper mining operations were developing quickly and the company needed an area for a reduction works facility. Developers quickly took steps to establish a city, installing electricity and phone lines and other basic needs to meet the needs of a rapidly growing city. The city was thriving and Douglas became a gathering place for the people who worked the copper smelters and who farmed and ranched in the valley. At one time, Douglas was home to more than 13 movie theaters. The most famous and the only building remaining today is the Grand Theater. The Beaux Arts style building was considered one of the most deluxe entertainment venues in the Southwest and played host to vaudeville performers and other entertainment legends in its heyday.

ricko

Having lived many years in Arizona, I visited Douglas, Bisbee and other mining towns several times. Great history amazing stories in those areas. Nice copper token in remarkable condition. Cheers, RickO

kaz

Hey Ricko, did you ever go to Willcox for Rex Allen Days? (my first wife's grandparents lived there). I've hiked up into Cochise Stronghold, been to Fort Huachuca (beautiful spot for an Army base); been to Douglas and Bisbee (cool town). Great token Broadstruck; thanks for posting it and bringing back some nice memories.

Broadstruck

Thanks @ricko and @kaz

spacehayduke

ricko

@kaz....No, never did that....Spent time desert hunting and visiting old miners cabins and such...did get into the Superstitions a bit...found a couple of nuggets (six and seven grams)... Arizona is a great state, really enjoyed the eight years I spent there...Cheers, RickO

coinbuf

I live in AZ now and to visit these old mining towns is cool, so much history in copper mining around the state. Cool piece @Broadstruck .

Broadstruck

Here's my other one...

1901-05 "In Copper We Trust" Douglas "Copper City Of The Southwest" Arizona, 32mm Diameter, Copper

I've always liked the slogan "In Copper We Trust" and have wanted a high grade example of this token for years. Patience finally yielded me an examples which betters the Ford/McSorley specimen. Struck by L.A. Rubber Stamp Company this pictorial token features a Donkey packed with mining equipment.

bolivarshagnasty

ctf_error_coins

I used to drive past a giant copper mine In Ajo, Arizona on my way to the Mexican border to do southwest desert photography.

Are there tokens from the Ajo copper mines?

Twobitcollector

coinsarefun

How about alloy
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Broadstruck

@coinsarefun said:
How about alloy
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.

That is struck on a brass planchet.

coinsarefun

I always thought this was the only Grover Cleveland Political worth owning.
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coinsarefun

@Broadstruck said:

@coinsarefun said:
How about alloy
.
.

That is struck on a brass planchet.

.
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Yes, very true
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Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve varying mechanical and electrical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other within the same crystal structure. In contrast, bronze is an alloy of copper and tin.

CommemDude

Part of original 1880 proof set

BillJones

I always thought this was the only Grover Cleveland Political worth owning.

Really? I have long been partial to this one which included one of his children, Ruth. It's not copper, but does have good story connected with it.

In the 1920s the Curtis Candy company introduced the Baby Ruth candy bar. There were allegations that it was named for baseball player, Babe Ruth, but company denied it. They claimed that it was named for Ruth Cleveland, the president’s daughter.

The trouble was Ruth Cleveland had died of diphtheria more than 20 years earlier. Although she had been popular in the 1890s, her name was hardly a household phrase so many years later. Most people figured that the Curtis Candy story was a dodge to avail paying royalties to the “Sultan of Swat.”

CWT1863

DCW

BillJones

Here is my big lakeland Collectorama purchase from yesterday. It is Low-51, HT-70 Hard Times Token. This is one of the most common varieties. I already had an AU-50, but luster on this piece really got my attention. It is an MS-64, Brown.

The "LLD" on the jack ass on the reverse refers to the honorary degree Harvard awarded to Andrew Jackson. John Quincy Adams, who was an alumnus of the school, was outraged. He didn’t think that a man who could barely write his own name should receive such an honor.

The obverse, which shows Jackson emerging from a strongbox with a bag of money, refers to his hard money policies. Jackson’s political opponents blamed him for all of the economic problems that the country faced in the 1830s.

In one sense they were right. Jackson’s opposition to paper money did decrease the money supply as few bank notes were released into circulation. We now know that significant decreases in the stock of money is a strong economic medicine. Unfortunately what needed to be done was a complete overhaul of the banking system, but that would come until the Civil War.

johnny9434

nice token coinsarefun I like that one

spacehayduke

@BillJones said:
Here is my big lakeland Collectorama purchase from yesterday. It is Low-51, HT-70 Hard Times Token. This is one of the most common varieties. I already had an AU-50, but luster on this piece really got my attention. It is an MS-64, Brown.

Nice Bill. Here are my two for comparison. All three have different amounts of detail on the strongbox which I think is due to wear of the die over the course of the minting (?). Or was it for some other reason?

Zoins

@BillJones said:
Here is my big lakeland Collectorama purchase from yesterday. It is Low-51, HT-70 Hard Times Token. This is one of the most common varieties. I already had an AU-50, but luster on this piece really got my attention. It is an MS-64, Brown.

The "LLD" on the jack ass on the reverse refers to the honorary degree Harvard awarded to Andrew Jackson. John Quincy Adams, who was an alumnus of the school, was outraged. He didn’t think that a man who could barely write his own name should receive such an honor.

The obverse, which shows Jackson emerging from a strongbox with a bag of money, refers to his hard money policies. Jackson’s political opponents blamed him for all of the economic problems that the country faced in the 1830s.

In one sense they were right. Jackson’s opposition to paper money did decrease the money supply as few bank notes were released into circulation. We now know that significant decreases in the stock of money is a strong economic medicine. Unfortunately what needed to be done was a complete overhaul of the banking system, but that would come until the Civil War.

Great upgrade and history @BillJones! The luster and surfaces on your new piece really stand out.

coinsarefun

Hi @BillJones I am aware of this one and do like yours.
I guess I like the satirical theme as many HTT’s have.

BillJones

All three have different amounts of detail on the strongbox which I think is due to wear of the die over the course of the minting (?). Or was it for some other reason?

According to Dr. Robert Schuman who wrote "The True Hard Times Tokens." the pieces will less box detail are the larter die states.

Raybo

@CommemDude said:
Part of original 1880 proof set

Me likey!

Broadstruck

@BillJones said:

All three have different amounts of detail on the strongbox which I think is due to wear of the die over the course of the minting (?). Or was it for some other reason?

According to Dr. Robert Schuman who wrote "The True Hard Times Tokens." the pieces will less box detail are the larter die states.

On the 1833 "I Take the Responsibility" the Low-171 / HT-70A (Gilt Copper) and Low-52 / HT-71 (Brass) had been struck before all the regular copper issues. On the copper issues the strong box details run from early to late die stages.

coinbuf

Always one of my favorite threads, some fantastic coin candy and some excellent history writeups provided as well.

spacehayduke

@Broadstruck said:

On the 1833 "I Take the Responsibility" the Low-171 / HT-70A (Gilt Copper) and Low-52 / HT-71 (Brass) had been struck before all the regular copper issues. On the copper issues the strong box details run from early to late die stages.

Did someone say HT-71? Supports the statement of early die state. Broadie, do you have any idea of how many HT-71's are extant?

Best, SH

Zoins

OMG, that looks amazing @spacehayduke!

Broadstruck

@spacehayduke said:

@Broadstruck said:

On the 1833 "I Take the Responsibility" the Low-171 / HT-70A (Gilt Copper) and Low-52 / HT-71 (Brass) had been struck before all the regular copper issues. On the copper issues the strong box details run from early to late die stages.

Did someone say HT-71? Supports the statement of early die state. Broadie, do you have any idea of how many HT-71's are extant?

Best, SH

HT-71's just require a little patience to find nice over the HT-70. The HT-70A is the toughest and took me a decade to locate. I've owned 3 of the 4 top pop HT-71's at one point. I've never seen another HT-70A worthy of my duplicate set.

My post from a couple years ago when I finished the set -

Well I'm really happy to have finally found a Gilt Copper variety which completes my "I Take The Responsibility" set.

1833 "I Take the Responsibility" Low-171 / Rulau HT-70A, Rarity-3, Gilt Copper, 29mm Diameter, Plain Edge.

The rarity rating assigned is very underrated as this is a far tougher to locate variety then the Rarity-2 Brass Low-52 / HT-71 and in gilt was missing in many major collections ever formed. Even the finest survivors are missing some gilt on the high points which is also common with other token varieties which have also been silvered 180 years ago. Although Joe Levine has had a low grade AU or two over the years with some gilt remaining this has been the first example on the market which better matches my set since 2008. As even most all examples offered on eBay over the years described as Gilt upon closer inspection has been the Brass variety. I'm now heavily researching to try to plate match it to a previous sale to establish provenance.



Recent research has shown that token HT-70 is probably the first cent-sized political type token which achieved wide circulation and it opened the door for a flood of others. The die was cut by Edward Hulseman in the fall of 1833 and the tokens struck by his button maker employer Robinson Jones & Company in Attleboro, Massachusetts. The tokens of this and later types (HT 69, 71 and 72) refer to Jackson who is shown with sword and purse. The adoption of the sword and purse continued for some time after the Whigs had taken the reins of government. The Albany Argus daily city gazette for October 1, 1842 published "The liberties of the country were alarmingly threatened under Mr. Van Buren's administration by a union of the purse with the sword in the same hands."

Here's the rest of the set which has taken me nearly a decade to complete:

Low-44 / HT-69



Low-51 / HT-70



Low-52 / HT-71 (Brass)



Low-53 / HT-72



Edited To Add:

The photos of the rest are from 2010 and I guess I'll need to re-shoot this whole set as the old images aren't doing some justice.

The Low-44 looks a bit mushy in the old pics so here's a more recent shot...

cardinal

I had posted this some time ago, but needed to get a better photo - it cost me all of $3 with free shipping: