(1835) Copper Token HT-349, Bucklin's Interest Tables NY

Coin Details

Auction Record

$576 VF30BN 08-20-2019 Stack's Bowers

Description

This 1835 copper Bucklin's Interest Tables token is a die variety from the continued advertising campaign for Isaac B. Bucklin's mathematical reference work. The 1835 date indicates production continued from the previous year, with new dies cut to maintain the supply of advertising tokens. The slightly different diameter (28.2mm versus 28.5mm for HT-348) indicates production on planchets from a different source or batch. Troy, New York in the 1830s was a thriving commercial and manufacturing center at the head of navigation on the Hudson River. Its location at the junction of the Hudson River and the recently completed Erie Canal made Troy a critical transshipment point for goods moving between the Atlantic coast and the Great Lakes region. The concentration of commercial activity created strong demand for Bucklin's interest calculation tools. The proliferation of Bucklin die varieties across both "Interest Tables" and "Book Keeping" inscriptions documents a successful advertising strategy. The tokens kept Bucklin's name in constant circulation among Troy's commercial community, where the daily need for interest calculations made his publications genuinely useful business tools rather than mere curiosities.

Rarity Notes

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

Cross References

Low 139; Rulau HT-349