USA Hard Times token 1841

Description

A series of bad decisions about the handling of money in the USA produced several years of economic chaos in the 1830s. Money became scarce in parts of the country, replaced by copper tokens and private paper money, much of it issued without backing assets. A depression developed.

A token is used like a coin but is not a coin. Rather, it stands for a coin without the value of the coin. Maybe its copper, but says its value is the same as a silver coin. Usually tokens were made privately, but sometimes governments got involved.

The word “exonumia” is used to describe all kinds of things that are “like” coins but are not coins. I wrote a blog post on that subject. Basic categories: 1. used like a coin but not issued by a national government, 2. looks like a coin but not made for spending, 3. other things that we are interested in.