(1831-34) Copper Token HT-332, Suydam & Boyd NY

Coin Details

Auction Record

$168 VF Details 06-23-2020 Stack's Bowers

Description

This copper token from Suydam & Boyd of New York City advertises the business of this mercantile partnership during the Hard Times era. The Suydam name appears in several Hard Times Token series — Suydam & Boyd, and the related firm of Doremus, Suydam & Nixon — reflecting the commercial prominence of the Suydam family in New York's antebellum business community. Suydam & Boyd operated at 187 Pearl Street in the heart of Manhattan's wholesale commercial district. Pearl Street was one of the city's oldest and most important commercial thoroughfares, running parallel to the waterfront through the densest concentration of importing, wholesaling, and commission merchant firms in the United States. A Pearl Street address signified membership in the upper ranks of New York's mercantile establishment. The firm's token was produced in the standard cent-sized copper format, ensuring broad acceptance in commercial circulation. The connection between Suydam & Boyd and the larger Suydam family business network, which included the major importing firm of Doremus, Suydam & Nixon, placed this token within a broader commercial ecosystem that spanned multiple enterprises and partnerships.

Rarity Notes

Scarce. Pearl Street merchant token. Rarity R-2.

Cross References

Low 147; Rulau HT-332