Q.David Bowers
One of the most plentiful of all Hard Times tokens is the variety designated as Low 120. The obverse illustrates a standing eagle with a serpent in its talons, with the date 1837 below. The reverse bears the in scription ONE CENT in the center with FEUCHTWANGER'S COMPOSITION surrounding. The issue is of small diameter, 18.5 millimeters.
and is struck in a light-colored material known as German silver. Numerous minor die variations are known to exist.
These pieces and certain related issues of the three cent denomination were the product of Dr. Lewis Feuchtwanger. Born at Furth, near Nuremberg, Germany in 1807, he went on to attend school and graduate from Heidelberg University. Duelling was a special interest, and he was said to have won each of the nine duels in which he fought. Feuchtwanger came to America sometime in 1831 or earlier, for in that year he wrote for Silliman's American Journal of Science and Arts an article about arsenic. In the same year Feuchtwanger's composition metals, to which the name German silver was given, were mentioned in print, but it is possible that it was first compounded at an earlier time.
In 1831 he was in the drug business at 377 Broadway, New York, where he remained until 1836. In 1835 and 1836 he was awarded silver medals by the American Institute for his metallic composition and for his exhibit of over 100 different articles made from the substance.
On March 15, 1837, he advertised in the New York Courier and Enquirer that he would execute upon short notice orders for items cast in German silver, and that he had on hand 400 dozen German silver teaspoons, 200 dozen teaspoons of the same material, as well as 50 dozen forks, 50 dozen butter knives, an unspecified quantity of sugar tongs, napkin rings, ladies' scissors, hooks, children's mugs, and other articles. In the same year he relocated to 2 Cortland Street, at the corner of Broadway. On September 13, 1837, he submitted a lengthy petition to Congress urging the adoption of his metal as a substitute for copper in minor coinage. The petition read:
FEUCHTW ANGER COMPOSITION
That your memorialist (Lewis Feuchtwanger of New York City) after repeated labors, has succeeded in making and perfecting a metallic composition, known as German silver, of clean, white, and durable material, of specific value, from which coins and all articles can be advantageously manufactured, as are now wrought out of pure silver.
Your memorialist proposes to your honorable body to substitute this composition for the copper currency of the country, by striking off pieces of the size of a dime, and of the value of one cent, specimens of which he has prepared for inspection. [This is in reference to the pieces known today as Low 120.] Your memorialist proposes to furnish this substitute for copper as cheaply as copper is now furnished to the Mint, and is confident that the "silver cent" thus proposed as a substitute for the cent pieces would be more acceptable, more portable, and will be more generally used in making up the fractional parts of a dollar. Your memorialist prays your honorable body to take the subject under your consideration ....
Sen. Thomas Hart Benton wrote to Robert Patterson, director of the Philadelphia Mint, inquiring about the merits of the Feuchtwanger petition. On January 4, 1838, Patterson replied:
I had the honor to receive your letter of the 14th of October, accompanied by a "memorial of Lewis Feuchtwanger, praying Congress to substitute his invention, called German silver, in place of the copper coinage of the United States."
On this memorial you asked my opinion, to be laid before the Committee on Finance of the Senate at the present session. I have accordingly given the matter my full consideration, and have been led to form an opinion unfavorable to the project of Mr. Feuchtwanger for reasons which I now proceed respectfully to lay before you.
1st. The German Silver, argentan, or packfong is a complicated and very variable compound, as is shown by the following table of analysis, in which:
No. 1 exhibits the composition of the best argent an manufactured by Henninger in Berlin in Prussia.
No.2 that of packfong, a compound long since employed in China and analyzed by Engstrom.
No.3 another kind of packfong, is said to cost, in China, one fourth its weight in silver, analyzed by Dr. Fife.
No.4 compound known in Central Germany for more than eighty years, as the Luhler White Copper, analyzed by Keferstein.
No.5 argent an, manufactured in England in 1833 by Professor James C. Booth, now of the Franklin Institute ....
Patterson went on to relay the specific analyses of the different compounds and to give objections concerning them. It was stated that Feuchtwanger's composition resembled silver closely, so that embarrassment and loss might occur from confusing the two kinds of metal. "Our present coins of gold, silver, and copper do not offer any such difficulty," Patterson said. It was further alleged that alloying was very difficult, and that part of the zinc used in the alloy volatilized when the alloy was made and had to be replaced with a fresh quantity of zinc, therefore making it impossible to produce a compound of consistently uniform proportions.
Once the German silver compound was rejected by Congress, Feuchtwanger did not seem to pay the petition much further attention. He concentrated on his chemical and drug business. In 1839 his establishment was located at 7 Gold Street. In 1840 he was at 320 Broadway as an "apothecary and operative chemist." In 1842-1843 his address was 11/2 Wall Street, and later in 1843 at 2 Wall Street.
In 1838 Feuchtwanger wrote a treatise on gems, a special interest. This was carried through several editions, with the 1872 edition, published many years later, having 528 pages. In 1873 he wrote a book on soluble glass.
Feuchtwanger attended the Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in London in 1851 and wrote magazine articles concerning the gems there. For a time his personal collection of valuable stones was exhibited in New York's Central Park. Later the pieces were presented to the Society of Ethical Culture at Central Park West and 62nd Street. He was a member of the New York Lyceum of Natural History, the American Association of Science, the Maryland Academy of Science, and other organizations. He died on June 25, 1876, at the age of 69.
The token described as Low 124 apparently was a joint venture of two Portsmouth, New Hampshire merchants. The obverse bears the inscription:
NATHL. MARCH, BOOK SELLER & STATIONER NO.7 EXCHANGE BUILDINGS, PORTSMOUTH, N.H. 1837. The reverse describes the activities of another merchant: WILLIAM SIMES & CO. DEALERS IN TEAS, WINES, AND GROCERIES. NO. I PEIRCE'S BUILDINGS PORTSMOUTH N.H.