Antique Hard Times Token Executive Experiment 1837 Fiscal Agent Turtle W/ Treasure Chest retailer I Follow in the Steps of My Illustrious Predecessor

This is a hard times token which were produced privately during the Panic of 1837 time period in the United States. Government issued coins of all types were not easy to come by due during this time period. A big reason for this is the fact that President Andrew Jackson decided in the mid 1830s that real estate transactions in the western part of the country could only be completed with gold and or silver instead of on credit. This was after Jackson basically shut the 2nd Bank of the United States which reverted the nations currency to State banks. Then in 1837 (at this point Martin Van Buren was President) commercial paper could no longer by turned in for gold or silver coinage therefore causing citizens to hoard coinage including even copper cents. All of this caused the issuance of aptly named Hard Times tokens which are copper, come in various varieties and most of which are the size similar to a large cent.

So for your consideration we have a Antique Hard Times Token Executive Experiment 1837 Fiscal Agent Turtle with Treasure Chest I Follow in the Steps of My Illustrious Predecessor . The treasure chest is a representation of the funds of the treasury and the turtle may be a dig at the quickness of response of the government to address the panic. The donkey on the reverse is a symbol of the Democratic party who at the time had the White House. This was in President Martin Van Buren who promised to follow what Andrew Jackson did but saying "I Follow in the Steps of My Illustrious Predecessor ." This appears to be a criticism of the statement.

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