(1834) Copper Token HT-157, S.B. Schenck MA

Coin Details

Auction Record

$1,020 VF35BN 08-20-2019 Stack's Bowers

Description

This 1834 copper token from S.B. Schenck of Massachusetts is another product of the Attleboro jewelry manufacturing district. Schenck operated among the cluster of small metalworking firms that produced buttons, jewelry findings, and decorative hardware in this Bristol County town. Like his Robinson and Richards neighbors, Schenck used token production both as advertising and as a demonstration of his firm's die-cutting and striking capabilities. The Attleboro manufacturers who issued Hard Times Tokens shared a common industrial infrastructure — die sinkers who could cut both button and token dies, rolling mills that produced copper sheet in the appropriate gauge, and screw presses capable of applying the tonnage needed for clean strikes. This shared infrastructure explains why Attleboro produced a disproportionate number of merchant token varieties relative to its small population. S.B. Schenck's 1834 date places this token early in the Hard Times Token era, before the Panic of 1837 created widespread demand for privately issued small change. Like other pre-panic Attleboro tokens, this piece was initially an advertising medium rather than a necessity-driven currency substitute.

Rarity Notes

Common. Standard copper variety. Rarity R-1 to R-2.

Cross References

Low 75; Rulau HT-157