Coming up at the Stacks...1838 Low-54A "Am I Not a Man and a Brother" Token,even if you do
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Even if you don't collect tokens....this is big news and great history...............next bid $20k
Link to Stacks America Auction coming up
Famous 1838 Low-54A "Am I Not a Man and a Brother" Token Rarity
Recently Discovered Fourth Known Example
Description:
An incredible find, and only the fourth known example of this greatly impressive rarity among the Hard Times token series; this particular specimen first came to light recently in Canada.
Medium chocolate brown with faint uniform microgranularity seen under low magnification; a few faint marks are noted as well, none of them sufficiently imposing to warrant individual mention.
Low-54A (HT-82) is now known to the extent of just four pieces, plus a uniface die impression of the obverse, ex: Fuld. T
he other three examples include the Don Miller specimen, now ensconced in a major Long Island, New York collection; Ex: Charles Ricard via Bowers and Merena, now in the Eric P. Newman Collection
and almost certain to be included in the George Washington University behest by Mr. Newman; and the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection piece (Stack's, June 2004:118), it too reportedly in an advanced private collection.
Missing from Lyman Low's 1906 listing of Hard Times tokens, Low-54A has been regarded as a great rarity for as long as it has been known to the collecting public.
The far more common Low-54 shows a kneeling female figure, in imitation of the 18th century British Conder token issues of Middlesex that were the first to show the kneeling slave and the
AM I NOT A MAN AND A BROTHER motifs; those popular Conder tokens range from relatively common to rare, depending on the Dalton & Hamer designations.
Most believe that Low-54A was a pattern issue, intending, of course, to draw attention to the slavery issue in America in much the same manner as the British tokens of the 18th century,
those closely related to the efforts of the British Slavery Abolition Society.
It is presumed that very few of the Am I Not a Man and a Brother tokens were struck; the existence of just four examples certainly bears that out. The more common female slave obverse of
Low-54 indicates that American abolitionists probably felt a woman in chains was a more effective advertisement in the fight against slavery.
As noted in the Ford catalog, "the similarity of the reverse between Low-54 and Low-54A show the two to have been related.
The Low-54A issue clearly does not fall into the category of the so-called Bushnell series.
All known specimens show some wear. To the best of our knowledge the first illustration of a Low-54A was in Wayte Raymond's 1940 Standard Catalog;"
that illustration was of the John J. Ford, Jr. specimen mentioned earlier. Certainly one of the major highlights of the current sale catalog, this example of Low-54A will long be remembered
in the annals of the Hard Times token series as the first "new" example of Low-54A to come to light in many years!
Have at it specialists, and may the most persistent bidder enjoy his or her new stewardship of a great American copper rarity.
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Comments
That's got to be the 'Holy Grail' of HT Tokens........
<< <i>Wow !
That's got to be the 'Holy Grail' of HT Tokens........ >>
It's a legendary rarity and it's now up to almost $40K with juice prior to the live auction.
Last example to come to market was Ford's EF which hammered $72K.
It will be fun to see what this ground salvaged example hammers as I'm sure a couple collectors will put on their big boy or big girl pants to acquire it!
<< <i>Wow !
That's got to be the 'Holy Grail' of HT Tokens........ >>
No for me. To me this is the "Holy Grail" of the Hard Times tokens, Low #1. There are three sub varieties of this. This design has long been the marquee design for the Hard Times token series. I just wish I had a better one.
This is the only Hard Times token that sums up the major issues that faced Andrew Jackson presidency, the re-charter of the Bank of the United States and the tariff – nullification – preserve the Union issue. When it comes to tokens, a good story or great history trumps rarity, and this piece is by no means common.
I am sure you wouldn't mind having both of them?
<< <i>Bill:
I am sure you wouldn't mind having both of them?
I won't pay any where near the price that one is going to bring at the auction. Low 54 does a decent job of covering the slavery issue, and there is an English token with a similar design with a male slave on it that sells for a great deal less.
The trouble with the "Am I not a man and a brother?" token is that it's so rare that it's just not in my field of vision. And having paid big bucks for the time (over $1,000) for a ground salvage piece is something that I don't want to do again.
<< <i>I won't pay any where near the price that one is going to bring at the auction. Low 54 does a decent job of covering the slavery issue, and there is an English token with a similar design with a male slave on it that sells for a great deal less.
The trouble with the "Am I not a man and a brother?" token is that it's so rare that it's just not in my field of vision. And having paid big bucks for the time (over $1,000) for a ground salvage piece is something that does not please me. >>
When I held it yesterday knowing it had a $20K reserve and seeing how porous it was I thought well here's one I'll just skip.
Heck now that there's a 4th confirmed example it just went from R-8 to R-7 anyway
Personally .......I think it's one of ambro51's electrotypes
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<< <i>Personally .......I think it's one of ambro51's electrotypes
Maybe ambro51 will buy it and make a few