(1836) Token HT-187A, St. Louis MO

Coin Details

Description

This variant of the Huckel, Burrows & Jennings St. Louis token shares the extreme rarity and historical significance of the primary HT-187 issue. As a die or metal variant of the only merchant token attributed to St. Louis in the Hard Times series, it commands extraordinary numismatic interest. The firm's business as grocers, wine merchants, and ship chandlers on Main Street reflects St. Louis's dual identity as both a settled city and a frontier outfitting point. St. Louis's Main Street in 1836 was the nerve center of the western frontier's commercial operations. Steamboats lined the levee, loading supplies for the upper Missouri fur trade posts, the lead mines of Galena, and the scattered settlements along the river system. Huckel, Burrows & Jennings' "boat stores and ship chandlery" business provisioned these vessels with food, wine, rope, hardware, and other necessities for river voyages that could last weeks or months. The variant designation may reflect differences in edge treatment, planchet thickness, or die state from the primary HT-187 issue. Given the extreme rarity of the entire series (approximately four specimens known of the primary type), any variant represents an extraordinary numismatic discovery.

Rarity Notes

Extremely rare. Variant of the only St. Louis Hard Times merchant token.

Cross References

Rulau HT-187A