(1834) Token HT-150, Attleboro MA

Coin Details

Description

This 1834 copper token bearing an Attleboro, Massachusetts attribution is a general-issue piece from the town's metalworking district, without specific merchant attribution. Unlike the Robinson, Schenck, and Richards tokens that name individual firms, HT-150 may represent a communal advertising effort by Attleboro manufacturers or a token produced by a firm whose name was not included on the die — a die sinker's sample or a token produced for general town use. Attleboro's concentration of button, jewelry, and metalworking firms made it uniquely positioned to produce tokens as a natural extension of regular manufacturing operations. The town's die sinkers, who cut dies for button production, could produce token dies with equal facility. And the screw presses used for button stamping were easily adapted to token striking. This industrial infrastructure explains why Attleboro produced more merchant token varieties per capita than virtually any other American community. The generic Attleboro attribution connects this piece to the broader group of Attleboro tokens that collectively document the early development of America's costume jewelry capital. The town's transformation from a rural New England community to a nationally significant manufacturing center was already well underway in the 1830s.

Rarity Notes

Common. Generic Attleboro issue. Rarity R-2.

Cross References

Rulau HT-150