1841 Hard Times Token "May Tenth" #HT-68 Graded AU58 BN by NGC

Description

1841 Hard Times Token
"May Tenth"
Here is an 1841 copper Hard Times Token, created during America's first Great Depression when coinage was scarce. These tokens were privately made and traded as currency until coins became readily available to the public again. The subjects of the tokens included political commentary or merchant advertising. The United States government temporarily allowed the use of Hard Times Tokens as money because the economic situation was so dire.
This is one of the "May Tenth" tokens, referencing the suspension of specie payment by banks on May 10, 1837.
Prior to that date, a fear of impending economic disaster led to more and more holders of paper bills turning them in for gold and silver coins, a transaction known as a "specie payment." The banks did not carry coins in sufficient number for all of their customers to cash out their entire worth, but if a bank turned down a specie payment request, there would be panic and a run on the bank, leading to its total collapse.
In order to stay open and functioning, banks had to eliminate specie payments entirely. An already-twitchy populace, suspicious of paper bills anyway, now were unable to exchange them for the precious metal they trusted, and it led to The Panic of 1837. Many banks collapsed, thousands of businesses folded, coins were hoarded and scarce, and the young country was officially in its first economic depression. This token was created in 1841 to commemorate the huge banking event, and is catalogued as #HT-68.
It has been authenticated by NGC and is graded AU58 BN or Almost Uncirculated 58 Brown.
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