The Great Hard Times Tokens Collections

The John J. Ford Jr. Collection
Hard Times tokens represent an unusual period in the financial history of the United States. President Jackson, in his campaign of 1832, was vehemently opposed to the Second Bank of the United States. This central bank in Philadelphia was said by opponents to control the money supply in favor of the wealthy merchants. Populist Jackson vowed to abolish it. The bank issued its own currency, which quickly became the most stable paper money in the land. It exercised considerable control over credit and interest rates throughout the country. When Jackson was reelected, he tried to abolish the bank. More...

The Charles Litman Collection
The sale of an advanced collection of Hard Times tokens always causes excitement. Generally speaking, a collection of 125 of original 183 Low numbered tokens is considered and advanced collection. The collection offered here of 141 different tokens was built many years ago primarily by Donald Miller. His primary collection was sold intact to a New York collector over 15 years ago. However, Miller kept not only an extensive duplicate, but also a triplicate collection. Both of these collections were purchased intact by Charles Litman from the Miller Estate. It was from this purchase that Mr. Litman “caught the bug” and it was not long thereafter that he set off in earnest to add to his already advanced collection. In the past 40 years there have been only 9 public auction sales that offered more than 125 different original Low numbers.... More...