Bryan Money, Medals and Tokens
Zoins
Posts: 34,283 ✭✭✭✭✭
I follow Bryan dollars and like images of coin presses but have never seen this one before the recent Stack's auction.
Does anyone know anything about this? I was tempted to pick it up but wanted to wait for a better condition unholed specimen. How long would I need to wait?
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There are 4 examples sold in auctions from 1928 - 1930 on the NNP.
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/searchwithterms?searchterm=W J BRYAN PRESIDENT 1897
Here is the first one:
https://ia601206.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?zip=/5/items/catalogofpublics00elde/catalogofpublics00elde_jp2.zip&file=catalogofpublics00elde_jp2/catalogofpublics00elde_0016.jp2&scale=2&rotate=0
Wow, great find from so long ago!
That is interesting.... and showing the coins falling on the floor...not proofs I guess
Cheers, RickO
Never seen that one before. Neat.
Never seen that one at all. Neat.
Do they even exist unholed?
Perhaps for the rest of your life. I have been collecting Bryan money and other related pieces seriously since the mid 1990s, and I have not see that one before.
Here is an pro-Brian piece that made Mark Hanna, who was William McKinley's campaign manager, look like a "bag man" with a dead Republican Elephant on the reverse. This one is quite scarce, but not as tough as the OP.
Haha! Good eye!
D'oh! I was on the fence about bidding and chose not to in the end.
At least it gives me something to look forward to
That is interesting and good of you to note.
I love the themes on this. The dollar sign suit is awesome.
Never seen that one either. Bryan Money is an interesting niche of the hobby.
Here is a cool one:
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
This appears to be a rare token for William Jennings Bryan's 1900 Presidential run as I haven't seen another. The token and die was my last pickup of 2019. I'm lucky to have the token because it's the only piece I've found that shows what this die was paired with.
I've found that political tokens can be a lot harder to find than merchant tokens which is interesting to because I would imagine that many of were struck but it could be because no one bothered to save them.
That's pretty cool. I have also been collecting Bryan money for a while and have not seen one of those.
Here is a neat one ...
See http://www.doubledimes.com for a free online reference for US twenty-cent pieces
I wish this one was in better condition, but I can't complain finding it in a coin shop junk box for $1.
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After buying it I did some research and turned up this interesting tidbit (below).
They are apparently very rare - I have only seen one other. It was listed on eBay and in similar condition with an asking price of about $500 (it did not sell, however, as far as I know).
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Wanna double your money?
Edited to add ... that's a really cool piece!
See http://www.doubledimes.com for a free online reference for US twenty-cent pieces
An example of the Statue Of Liberty piece just sold on eBay within the past couple of weeks -- definitely a scarce piece.
The Bryan piece in the OP was buried in a lot that went for a reasonable price even without the Billy B Coin Press piece.
Interesting fact about Bryan... He was the youngest Presidential nominee of a major political party in US history... He was 36 when nominated by the Democrats in 1896.
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
To answer the OP, there was an old Cosby routine where God asked Noah how long he could tread water.
The "hole" is not really a problem because if you were goint to wear it, you would need that to hang it.
this means that whoever invented the "bezel" needs to be in a Hall of Fame somewhere!!!
they have saved many a coin, especially gold ones, from damage.
Those who were working the political campaign were not concerned about collectors. They were concerned about getting their message out as fast and as widely as possible. These pieces were intended to be used for three or four months and that was it.
Many collectors are familiar with the satirical Bryan Dollars that are usually cast in lead. They get to be a bit repetitive, even for those of us who collect these pieces. Still there are some that are rare and unusual. Here is one that used a Lincoln quote to make it’s point.
Here is another rare or very scarce variety that used elements of the Morgan Dollar design to make its point. The octagonal shape may have been intentional to avoid any counterfiet problems.
Found it, thanks.
Sold for about $250:
https://ebay.com/itm/392702434014
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@Zoins
While I have nothing to add @Zoins i do have a couple of common ones that I like.
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CoinsAreFun Toned Silver Eagle Proof Album
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Gallery Mint Museum, Ron Landis& Joe Rust, The beginnings of the Golden Dollar
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More CoinsAreFun Pictorials NGC
Great Bryan money everyone! It's great to see all the different varieties!
Love the matching token @jonathanb! Nice to see a piece that goes with the die!
The article by John H. Snow is great Dan @dcarr! Love reading numismatic history with images like this.
Just ran across this one and it seems even the US Navy was into Bryan Money! Anyone know anything about this?
I recently picked this one off eBay for a favorable price
https://ebay.com/itm/293536088760
That is definitely unusual. I don't know any reasoning behind it.
If you click on the image to see the large version, I like the effect of how they made the blue areas around the Liberty head look like water - like looking down into a swimming pool.
Thread Revival Notice
This one sold for$334.00 on Oct 24, 2020. I was the underbidder. It was less than $60 until the last few seconds.
Is this cataloged? Does this have a DeWitt number?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/392979460737?
It was sold by whitewolfcoins of Alexander, New York.
This one is also from whitewolfcoins and sold for $162.49.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Campaign-Medal-1900-JEFFERSON-JACKSON-amp-W-JENNINGS-BRYAN-DEMOCRATIC-CONVENTION-/392981868739?
This explains the whole thing better than any other "Bryan" item that I know of.
(Click on the link to see in full resolution to read the fine print):
designscomputed.com/coin_pics/Bryan_envelope.jpg
That's amazing Dan! Espeically since it's mailed from Victor, Colorado!
Yes, and the envelope was also printed by the "Western Litho. Co. Denver."
(in small print near the lower left corner of the front side).
HK-210 is the earliest “free coinage” piece I have, been collecting Bryan Money for 27+ years.
I have a number of unlisted pieces to share if interested.
This is a paperweight I snagged on eBay.
Great posts @schmoozer! Love your HK-210 and paper weight!
Please share your other pieces as well!
Is there a comprehensive Bryan reference to add these to?
The standard reference is "Bryan Money" by Fred Schornstein.
An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.
As mentioned above, the current standard reference is Schornstein's "Bryan Money" published in 2001 by The Token And Medal Society (TAMS), hardcover, 112 pages, quarto, with illustrated dust jacket. It is a complete revision of the previous standard work by Farran Zerbe "Bryan Money - Tokens Of The Presidential Campaigns Of 1896 And 1900 - Comparative And Satirical" which itself was a softcover reprint from articles in the July 1926 issue of The Numismatist. It sticks mostly to the medals and tokens but does list and illustrate some related material.
TAMS also issued a large separate supplement and price guide to the Schornstein work as part two of the 2012 TAMS Journal. The supplement contains updated information on listed pieces and additions of many unlisted pieces as well as a price guide for all issues. Both works are still possibly available from TAMS (discount for members) and many numismatic book dealers (make sure to compare prices).
The Sullivan guide ends at 1892 election. It is my understanding that Sullivan added the 1892 tokens to the book.
There was a good reason for ending the book with 1892. The number of campaign items that were issued in 1896 is mind boggling.
I am thinking about mounting an exhibit of Bryan money at the 2022 Winter FUN show. Is any one interested?
Add in the fact that the 1896 campaign was the first extensive use of less expensive celluloid pin back buttons and the whole world of campaign items turned 180 degrees by the 1900 campaign.
That is a great idea!
I bought the Sullivan DeWitt book about 10 years ago, excellent investment. I also have a number of old auction catalogs specializing in political memorabilia, priceless.
I collect a lot of stuff, the first purchase is most always reference books.
It was the Brian Money exhibit at the Money Museum in the National Bank of Detroit that inspired me to make the Williams Jenning Brian silver bar back in 1973.
Here is the 1900 comparative Bryan Dollar, in silver, that is the same size as a government dollar. The guide books say that this piece is common, but I have not found that to be the case.
For those who are new Bryan dollars, they are divided into two broad classes. The comparative pieces are made of coin silver. They make a comparison between the weight of a government silver dollar and the size that dollar needed to be to be worth a dollar. Usually they were larger that a government dollar by a significant amount. Here is an example.
The satirical Bryan dollars made fun of the concept of a silver dollar that contained a dollar's worth of silver. They were usually cast in lead and were outrageously large.
Pretty neat hammer: "Bryan Stevenson Get Your Hammer Out, Now Knock."
Anyone know how this was used?
Photos courtesy of David of threeys.