(1837-8) Token HT-261, New York NY

Coin Details

Auction Record

$18,000 MS64 08-22-2021 Heritage Auctions

Description

This 1837-1838 copper Edwin Parmele token is a later-dated variety in the merchant's token series from New York City. The 1837-1838 date range places this variety squarely in the peak Hard Times period, when the Panic of 1837 had created acute coin shortages and merchant tokens served as genuine emergency currency alongside their advertising function. The timing of this variety's production indicates it was motivated as much by the coin shortage as by advertising ambitions. Merchants who had been producing tokens as advertising novelties before 1837 found themselves in possession of a valuable capability when the panic disrupted the circulating coin supply. Those who could produce or contract for additional tokens had a commercial advantage — their advertising pieces gained genuine monetary utility. The Parmele token series, spanning from the early 1830s through the late 1830s, documents one merchant's sustained engagement with the token advertising medium through dramatically changing economic conditions.

Rarity Notes

Common. Standard copper variety. Rarity R-2.

Cross References

Rulau HT-261