(1829-33) Copper Token HT-162, Farnsworth, Phipps & Co

Coin Details

Auction Record

$264 MS63BN 03-05-2019 Stack's Bowers

Description

This copper token from Farnsworth, Phipps & Co. dates to the 1829-1833 period, making it among the earliest merchant tokens that would later be classified as Hard Times issues. The firm operated in the metalworking trade, producing hardware or jewelry components in the broader manufacturing network that connected Massachusetts' industrial communities. The token's design follows the standard merchant format with the firm's name and location. Farnsworth, Phipps & Co. represents the type of small partnership that characterized early American manufacturing — two or three principals pooling capital and skills to operate a workshop producing metal goods for regional distribution. Such firms were often short-lived, dissolving and reforming under new names as partners entered or left the business. The token may document a partnership configuration that existed only briefly. The early date range (1829-1833) places this token before the Panic of 1837, when most Hard Times Tokens were produced. Early-period merchant tokens were primarily advertising pieces rather than emergency currency, distributed to customers and business contacts as reminders of the issuing firm's products and services.

Rarity Notes

Common. Standard copper variety. Rarity R-2.

Cross References

Rulau HT-162