Am I Not A Woman & A Sister? 1838 Full Date!

April 2024

Sun

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

Hard Times Token. Late in 1837 the American Anti-Slavery Society of N.Y. commissioned Gibbs & Gardner of Belleville N.J. to strike these tokens as a fund raiser. This particular example is a very scarce token type that has a fully struck "8" in the date on the reverse. The study below estimates that only about 1/10 of the total number stuck has the full date. This is even scarcer because of the exceptional condition of this example. Note the reversed 'N' in UNITED. For other tokens in this 'family' see Liberia.
A photo of the exceedingly rare "Am I Not a Man & A Brother token can also be found in this museum's USA > Tokens section.

VIEW & DOWNLOAD Research documents:
Numismatic Impressions of the Abolitionist Movement - Kyle Knapp [a PREMIER article!] [ link ]
There is an extensive study of these Hard Times Tokens and others in our Moneta Library:
HTT Engraver Hulseman: [ link ]
The Kneeling Slave Token - Beerstecher: [ link ]
Abolitionist Tokens & William Garrison - Rachootin: [ link ]

One notable mystery on these is that the minting origins are still unknown. The article speculates on two well known HTT sources and Rulau now states that it was minted by Gibbs Gardner & Co. of Belleville NJ. There is also an article on that mint in the Library at:
Belleville N.J. Mint - Jacobs: [ link ]
Also see: "The Numismatist", Aug. 1974 for an article entitled "A Connection Between the 1838 Anti-Slavery Token (Low 54) and the "Underground Railroad'' by Robert D. Leonard Jr., and Dr. Clyde Keeler, Sc.D