Q.David Bowers
On March 31, 1830, the main building was destroyed by fire and all of the machinery was lost Restoration began immediately and it was completed by the following July. In 1836 John Buckingham, then brother-in-law, was admitted as a partner in a separate enterprise which manufactured hinges under the name of Scovill & Buckingham": In 1840 the son of John Buckingham (Scovill M. Buckingham) and his son-in' law, Abram Ives, were taken into the business 0 J. M. L. & W. H. Scovill. For the next ten years but tons were manufactured under the name of Scovill & Co., while the original J. M. L. & W. H. Scovill name was used in the manufacture of rolled brass and brass wire.
Shortly after their invention in 1839, daguerrotype plates were introduced into the United States. By 1842 a strong demand was created for the devices, which were composed of silver-plated copper with a mirrorlike surface. Scovill entered the field and soon became the largest manufacturer of these in the United States. Cameras and other photographic goods were soon added to the line. Branches were established in New York, Boston, and Chicago.
In 1850 the various Scovill enterprises were combined under a stock company which adopted the name of Scovill Manufacturing Company. The firm continued its growth and entered many new product lines. By 1912 the company had a capitalization of $5 million and employed 4,000 people.
Among the Hard Times tokens made by Scovill are those listed by Low as numbers 31-40, 45-48, 58-65, 67, 68, 95-97, 107, 110, 111, 115, 122, 123, 127, 130, 133-136, 138, 153, and 154.
In Attleboro, Massachusetts, the firm of H. M. & E.I. Richards, controlled by two cousins, Henry Manning Richards and E. Ira Richards, produced a wide variety of Hard Times tokens. Low traces the beginning of the firm to Ira's father, also named Ira Richards, who began manufacturing jewelry in Attleboro about 1815. The two cousins were employed by him until 1830, when the firm of H. M. & E. I. Richards was formed. The company later dissolved, and in 1837 H. M. Richards went to Philadelphia where he continued the manufacture of jewelry articles.
In Belleville, New Jersey, John Gibbs, who on a token known as Low 150, described himself as MANUFACTURER OF MEDALS AND TOKENS, was a senior partner of Gibbs, Gardner & Co. His business was located in a building on the same premises as Stevens, Thomas & Fuller, a company which produced dies and struck minor coins for Brazil, Liberia, Santo Domingo, and various private merchants. Stevens had earlier obtained his training in Birmingham, England.
The coining facility became known as the Belleville Mint. Many different varieties associated with the Hard Times token series, including some bearing the evasive legend NOT ONE CENT, were made there. In addition, similarly-sized copper coins known as bouquet sous were made for circulation in Canada. The floral bouquet design was used in one instance as a reverse for a token issued by William Gibbs, father of John Gibbs, whoproclaimed himself to be an AGRICULTURIST.
Another piece issued at Belleville bears the same reverse as the Canadian bouquet sou. The obverse has the inscription T. DUSEAMAN BUTCHER, BELLEVILLE.
T. D. Seaman operated a hotel in Belleville around 1837 and also apparently engaged in trade as a butcher. He was probably the same as one Tobias D. Seaman who was proprietor of the Mechanics' Hotel, 188 Broad Street, Newark, New Jersey, from about 1845 to 1850, and, following that, in 1851 the South Ward Hotel at 398 Broadway, also in Newark. It is probable that the token known as Low 148 and bearing the DUSEAMAN legend was in reality issued for Seaman. The workmanship is very crude, and for this reason the piece was probably rejected by Seaman when he first saw it. A die cutter at the Belleville Mint simply added an extraneous U in place of the period between the D and SEAMAN, creating the Duseaman name. After the U was added the piece was suitable for general purposes and could be sold to anyone in quantity. As such pieces sold for less than a cent but circulated at the value of one cent each, a profit was to be made.
Hard Times tokens designated as Low 72 and 73 were issued by Francis L. Brigham, who advertised as a DEALER IN DRY GOODS BY WHOLESALE AND RETAIL at Cheapside, New Bedford, Massachusetts. Low relates that Cheapside was the designation given in the 1830s to a portion of Pleasant Street which formed the east side of what was then called Market Square. It was bordered by a long one-story building which is shown on the 1833 tokens issued by Brigham. A few years later, in 1836, Brigham was listed in the New Bedford directory as a dentist with an office at 24 Purchase Street. Brigham died at the age of 42 on September 18, 1845.
Isaac B. Bucklin, of Troy, New York, issued a number of tokens, many of which advertised his "Bucklin's Bookkeeping Simplified," 1834. According to the token, this system SHOWS ONE VIEW THE EXACT STATE OF YOUR BUSINESS. The reverse of the piece described as Low 77 states: BUCKLINS INTEREST TABLES. 100 DOLLARS FOR DETECTING AN ERROR OF 1 CENT. SHOWS THE INTEREST AT A GLANCE OF ANY SUM FOR ANY TIME AT 6 AND 7 PER CENT. PRICED FROM 25 CENTS TO 2 DOLLARS. Bucklin, a Troy school teacher, lived in nearby West Troy. He furnished special instruction in bookkeeping and also engaged in printing and selling interest tables and various accounting devices. From 1839 on he was a stove dealer at 221 River Street in Troy.
The token described as Low 81 was issued by the Howell Works Garden in 1834. This was apparently a resort or social area connected with the Howell Works, manufacturers located in Howell, Monmouth County, New Jersey. Founded as Monmouth Furnace in 1814, the enterprise was acquired by James P. Allaire around 1822. The name was changed to the Howell Works, under which designation business was conducted for about a quarter century. At one time the enterprise issued paper money in such denominations as 6 ¼, 12 1/2c, $3, $5, and $10.
The Merchants' Exchange located in Wall Street, New York, furnished the motif for one of the most widely-circulated tokens of the era. The obverse depicts the building with the legend MERCHANTS EXCHANGE WALL ST. N. YORK BUILT 1827 BURNT 1835. The structure was begun in 1825 and was first occupied on May 1, 1827. On December 16, 1835 it was destroyed by fire.
Walsh's General Store in Lansingburgh, Rensselaer County, New York, issued the token described as Low 99. This 1835 issue shows on the reverse a plow with the legend SPEED THE PLOUGH, IT FEEDS ALL, a reference to the interest in horticulture and farming shown by the issuer, Alexander Walsh. He conducted a store for more than 30 years. Locally his enterprise was known as Walsh's Museum due to the interesting and unusual variety of stock it contained.
Walsh achieved prominence in his own area. In 1825 he was a guest of Governor DeWitt Clinton and accompanied him on the first boat in ceremonies observing the opening of the Erie Canal. He was a recipient of a special silver medal struck to commemorate the event. In 1839 Henry Clay was a guest at Walsh's home in Lansingburgh. In 1846 he retired from business. On August 4, 1849 he died. Several varieties of tokens, struck by H. M. & E. I. Richards, were issued by Walsh. Those with the aforementioned design were known as "Plough pennies" in the upstate New York area, where apparently they achieved an extensive circulation.