(1837) Copper Token HT-61, Mint Drops

Coin Details

Auction Record

$384 MS63BN 08-20-2019 Stack's Bowers

Description

This 1837 copper token features the "Mint Drop" design, one of the most politically sophisticated concepts in the Hard Times Token series. "Mint Drop" was a satirical term for the lighter gold coins introduced by the Coinage Act of June 28, 1834, which reduced the gold content of American coins to prevent hoarding and encourage circulation. The reverse inscription "BENTONIAN CURRENCY" references Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, Andrew Jackson's most influential congressional ally in the hard-money campaign. Benton earned the nickname "Old Bullion" for his vigorous advocacy of gold and silver coinage over paper money. His Senate speeches championing metallic currency and attacking the Second Bank of the United States were legendary for their length, passion, and influence on Jacksonian monetary policy. The association of his name with the satirized "mint drops" was Whig mockery of both Benton's crusade and the lighter gold coins it produced. The Coinage Act of 1834 reduced the gold-to-silver ratio from approximately 15:1 to 16:1, making gold coins more affordable relative to silver and encouraging their circulation rather than their export or melting. While the policy succeeded in bringing more gold coins into circulation, it also had the unintended consequence of driving silver coins out of circulation (as Gresham's Law predicted), contributing to the coin shortage that made Hard Times Tokens necessary.

Rarity Notes

Common. The Mint Drop/Bentonian Currency design is well-represented in the Hard Times Token marketplace.

Cross References

Low 53; Rulau HT-61