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Hard Times Token Help: What Variety do I have?

VTCoinsVTCoins Posts: 1,361 ✭✭✭
Tim Puro
Puro's Coins and Jewelry
Rutland, VT

(802)773-3883

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Comments

  • BroadstruckBroadstruck Posts: 30,497 ✭✭✭✭✭
    It very well could be, yet I saw the stack's example in hand at Philly 09 sale and as you can see the gilding was more evenly concentrated even though circulated.

    These "Time Is Money" themed tokens have always been popular and many have been molested as they've fallen outside the numismatic community...

    Which we can see by the punched hole on your example image

    For what it's worth Stack's was completely wrong in their description as the token below is not a HT-315 / Low-136 obverse and HT-311 / Low-133 mulling as neither variety has the design details of either tokens you posted. The HT-317 / Low-138 is the only Smith's that has a dentil detailed dial where the hour and minute arms meet. It also has the fanciest of the reverse scroll work of any Smith's far more so then the HT-315 / Low-136.

    So in plain copper yours is a R-2, HT-317 / Low-138 and it could very well just be that it was gilded post era.
    To Err Is Human.... To Collect Err's Is Just Too Much Darn Tootin Fun!
  • VTCoinsVTCoins Posts: 1,361 ✭✭✭
    Thank you for the reply.

    So was the variety that I have initially not gilded?

    My token does have more wear than the Stacks' coin, so less gilding would be likely to show up.
    Tim Puro
    Puro's Coins and Jewelry
    Rutland, VT

    (802)773-3883

    Link to my website www.vtcoins.com

    Link to my eBay auctions

    Buy, sell and trade all coins, US paper money, jewelry, diamonds and anything made of gold, silver or platinum.
  • BillJonesBillJones Posts: 33,427 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I know a lot about the political Hard Times tokens, but not so much about the store cards. A number of political pieces were gilded from the beginning IMO, but I think that it was done less often for the merchants’ pieces. The reason was that these pieces were often used as substitutes for large cents, and the gilding would have made little sense. Still some of these pieces were made for collectors, and those pieces might well have been gilded to make them look special.

    This piece is gilded, and it is now listed as a Hard Times token. Lyman Low did not list it as one in his book. This piece was intended to worn in a political campaign, and the gold color would have drawn attention to it.

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    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?

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