(1835) Token HT-181, John J. Adams MA

Coin Details

Auction Record

$2,820 MS64 11-06-2014 Heritage Auctions

Description

This copper token advertises John J. Adams, manufacturer of every description of brushes at No. 11 Main Street, Taunton, Massachusetts. The obverse features a pig design—a standard die shared across many Hard Times tokens—while the reverse identifies Adams as a wholesale and retail brush manufacturer. The token measures 28.5mm with a plain edge and is cataloged as Rarity R-1 (common). Adams' brush manufacturing operation in Taunton reflected southeastern Massachusetts' role as a center of small-scale manufacturing in the early industrial period. Brush-making was a skilled craft requiring knowledge of different bristle types (hog bristle, horsehair, vegetable fiber), handle materials, and construction techniques for dozens of brush varieties—from household scrub brushes and brooms to industrial wire brushes and painters' tools. Adams' claim to manufacture "every description of brushes" indicates a comprehensive operation. The pig obverse die was a generic stock design used by token manufacturers on multiple merchants' tokens. Merchants ordering tokens could choose from a catalog of available obverse dies and have their own custom reverse die cut with their business information. This modular production system kept costs down and allowed even small-town merchants like Adams to afford custom advertising tokens.

Rarity Notes

Common. Rarity R-1. Copper, plain edge, 28.5mm. Stock pig obverse die.

Cross References

Rulau HT-181, Low-300