(1834) Token HT-26, William Seward

Coin Details

Auction Record

$3,840 MS65 08-20-2019 Stack's Bowers

Description

This 1834 brass token is associated with William Seward and the broader Whig opposition to Jacksonian banking policy. The brass composition and 28mm diameter make it a standard-format Hard Times Token suitable for circulation, while its political inscriptions aligned it with the anti-Jackson movement that coalesced into the Whig Party during 1833-1834. Seward's political trajectory during this period was closely tied to the rise of the Whig Party in New York State. The anti-Masonic movement, which had been particularly strong in western New York since the Morgan Affair of 1826, merged with National Republican and anti-Jackson forces to create the New York Whig organization — one of the most powerful state political machines of the antebellum era. Seward emerged as a leader of the progressive wing of New York Whiggery, advocating positions on banking, commerce, and social reform that would later evolve into the Republican Party platform. The brass composition distinguishes this piece from the copper version and marks it as part of the multi-metal production runs that characterize the more important Hard Times Token types. Collectors of political tokens frequently seek complete composition sets of each design, and the brass version occupies an important position in the Seward subseries.

Rarity Notes

Scarce. Brass Seward tokens are moderately available in the Hard Times Token market.

Cross References

Low 26; Rulau HT-26