(c.1860) Token Sage's Historical No. 2 Copper Old Sugar House

Coin Details

Auction Record

$360 MS65BN 08-31-2022 Stack's Bowers

Description

Sage's Historical token number 2 in copper depicts the Old Sugar House, a notorious structure in New York City that served as a British prison during the Revolutionary War. The sugar refineries of lower Manhattan were converted into makeshift prisons to hold American prisoners of war, where conditions were appalling and mortality rates catastrophic. Thousands of American soldiers and civilians died in the sugar house prisons from disease, starvation, and exposure — by some estimates more Americans died as British prisoners in New York than were killed in all the battles of the Revolution combined. Charles Sage's selection of this grim landmark for his historical token series reflects the dark chapter in New York's Revolutionary War history that remained a source of bitter memory well into the nineteenth century.

Rarity Notes

Copper striking. The Old Sugar House subject has strong Revolutionary War appeal. Standard availability for the series.

Cross References

PCGS #803575; Sage's Historical Token No. 2, Cu, Old Sugar House