June
 2003 Issue
By James C. Johnston Jr.
Photos by Steven Vater

 

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            In 1837, the financial world of the United States fell apart. The Bank of the United States failed to have its charter renewed because President Andrew Jackson had a political battle with its president, Philadelphia millionaire Nicholas Biddle.

            Biddle had fought Jackson’s bid for reelection in 1832. To Jackson, Biddle also represented the American aristocracy that Jackson hated. To Jackson, a continuation of the National Bank of the United States was an abomination. Jackson vetoed the bank’s charter, took all federal deposits out of the National Bank, and placed the government’s money in “Pet Banks,” which had backed him for president in 1832. This move erased the National Bank’s position of authority in the banking community. Without the National Bank to supervise banking, new “wild cat” banks sprang up all over the land. These banks issued millions of dollars in bank notes that were not backed-up with gold and or silver.

Fig. 1 - This cartoon shows Andrew Jackson as “King Veto.” His Veto of the “Bank Bill” would eventually be responsible for the “Great Panic of 1837” and the depression which followed.	Fig. 2 - A typical “Wild Cat Banknote” of the period issued by The Washington Country Bank of Calais, Maine in the 1830s. (see figure 3)	Fig. 3 - This reverse of the Calais Note (inspired one of its holders to write these poetic lines in the late 1830s) reads,*
* “Thou art at best the Ghost of Cash; The Spirit of two specie Dollars.; Thy paper fabric is but trash; And all thy promises follow; Begin O fear that thou art breaking; Thou ill conditioned and ragged elf.”

            In 1837, the government issued the “Specie Circular,” an executive order that stated that the government would no longer accept paper money issued by the thousands of the new “wild cat” banks on payment or debt revenue. The “Specie Circular” also stated that only silver or gold coins (which are called specie) would be acceptable in payment of taxes or for public lands. Paper money now had essentially no value. As a result, there was a run on the banks as people tried to cash in their paper bank notes for silver and gold. The banks went “bust” and millions of worthless paper notes were left floating around.

            Many hundreds of copper tokens were minted at this time and used for small change. This was because so many individuals were hoarding coins of all sorts. The majority of these tokens (commonly called “Hard Times Tokens”) were satirical and bitterly attached to Jackson, and his successor, Martin Van Buren, by a people who blamed them for the fiscal breakdown of the country.

Fig. 6 - This token lampoons Jackson as a “jack in the box” who says, “I take  the responsibility.”	Fig. 7 - Another token of the 1830s attacked Jackson.	Fig. 8 - These anti-slavery tokens were issued in the 1830s.

            Many of these tokens were also used for advertising. Stores, hotels, and groups, that fought for political causes, issued tokens. Milton’s clothing store of Boston, John Adams of Attleboro, and the anti-slavery Abolitionist Society all issued tokens, which are also commonly known as storecards.

            Advertising tokens became more common in the 1840s and 1850s, but their real hayday was the Civil War period. During that period, thousands of merchants had advertising storecards struck. Along with patriotic tokens, they generally circulated at a value of one or two cents. On June 8, 1864, Congress passed a law outlawing the private coinage of any and all money. From that time onward trade tokens lost claim to intrinsic value as actual coinage.

Fig. 9 - This 1830s token shows two main forces of a healthy economy, agriculture and trade.	Fig. 10 - Many Civil War era storecards and tokens featured an Indian (Native American) on the obverse that looked a great deal like the U.S. one cent coin circulating at that time.	Fig. 11 - This storecard advertises the “City Hotel” in Fall River, Massachusetts.

            These storecards were most commonly made of copper, brass, or white metal. Some were struck in silver and are a great deal scarcer. There are ten degrees of rarity assigned to these storecards, “rarity 1” being the most common and generally commanding the lowest prices. The highest degree of rarity is “rarity 10.” To get this ranking, only one token may be known to exist of a certain mintage.

Fig. 12 - This storecard was issued by “Tuttles Restaurant.”	Fig. 13 - This storecard was issued by Joseph Merriam “Die Sinkers and Letter Cutter.”

             As many as ten thousand or more different patriotic tokens and storecards may have been minted during the Civil War. The best book on the subject of Civil War advertising storecards or tokens is George and Melvin Fuld’s U.S. Civil War Storecards. This book can be ordered from or purchased from most coin dealers.

Fig. 14 -  This storecard was also issued by Merriam.	Fig. 15 - This storecard, issued in Boston, was “Good for 10 cents in refreshments.”	Fig. 16 - This storecard is very careful to say “Not One Cent.”

            According to the Red Book, by R.S. Yeoman and edited by Kenneth Bressett, rarity by metallic composition of the tokens and storecards is as follows: copper or brass (least rare), nickel and German silver (more rare), white metal (more rare), copper-nickel which is the same composition of U.S. cents minted from 1857 to 1864 (more rare), and the rarest of all, the silver tokens.

            After the Civil War, tradesman continued to mint storecard type tokens. These made no claim to intrinsic value. They merely advertised “the product.” These tokens are pure Americana. They are beautiful and provide an important reflection of the evolution of advertising in the United States.