(1834) Brass Token HT-27, William Seward

Coin Details

Auction Record

$9,000 MS62 11-24-2024 Heritage Auctions

Description

This 1834 brass token bears the name of William Seward and political inscriptions related to the Bank War debates. The 28mm diameter and brass composition place it within the standard parameters of circulatory Hard Times Tokens, and its design elements connect it to the network of anti-Jackson political tokens produced during the height of the Bank controversy. The Seward tokens (HT-25 through HT-30) form a coherent political subseries within the broader Hard Times Token catalog, documenting one politician's involvement in the most significant economic policy debate of the Jacksonian era. Seward's advocacy for sound banking, constitutional governance, and commercial development reflected the Whig belief that active government support for economic infrastructure was essential to national prosperity. Brass tokens from this period were struck on planchets cut from rolled brass sheet, a process that produced blanks of relatively uniform diameter but sometimes varying thickness depending on the gauge of the original sheet. This variation in planchet thickness is one of the characteristics that distinguishes privately produced tokens from the more carefully controlled products of the United States Mint, where planchet specifications were held to tighter tolerances.

Rarity Notes

Scarce. Standard brass composition with moderate availability.

Cross References

Low 27; Rulau HT-27