1837 Token HT-309, R.E. Russell SC MS(PCGS#77604)

November 2019 Baltimore Colonial Coins and Americana Auction

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

235

等级

AU55

价格

21,897

详细说明

South Carolina--Columbia. 1837 R.E. Russell. HT-309, Low-128, W-SC-040-10j. Rarity-5+. German Silver. Reeded Edge. 19 mm. AU-55 (PCGS). Coin alignment, with a slight counterclockwise rotation. This scarce and popular type was struck using Obverse Die 6 of Feuchtwanger's cent. The present example is an attractive pewter gray piece featuring no marks of note and a few light carbon flecks scattered about. Boldly to sharply defined from a well centered strike. Highly appealing! Although traditionally listed among the New York issuers in the Hard Times token series, recent research has confirmed that R.E. Russell's business was located in Columbia, South Carolina. Bowers explains in his 2015 Guide Book of Hard Times Tokens: "For generations, this token, although it bears no location, has been attributed to New York because of the Feuchtwanger obverse. Aaron M. Packard changed that assumption in 2013, when he located advertisements by Robert E. Russell, a Charleston botanist and the conductor of a popular tourist attraction, the Botany Garden. Included among the features of his establishment was a public bath. This service fits in nicely with the 12-1/2 cents denomination of the token. This value was popular at the time and was equal to one Spanish real or 'bit.' "Packard's research has revealed that Robert E. Russell was born in 1795. He spent most of his life in Columbia, the state capital. He began business as a tailor. On August 1, 1816, his partnership with Samuel Treadwell in the tailoring firm of Treadwell & Russell was dissolved, after which Robert pursued the trade on his own. In 1819 he advertised that he had 'employed' a number of first-rate tailors in London, Liverpool, and Glasgow who would furnish him with high-quality goods. In the 1820s, certain of his property was at sheriff's sale on several occasions. He later became a furniture salesman. He traveled widely in the East, often mentioning his destinations, including New York City, in his advertising. Perhaps he made contact in that city with Dr. Lewis Feuchtwanger. Still later he pursued botany, and in time he was a prolific advertiser of products such as plants and seeds. His Botany Garden was established in downtown Columbia. A later writer recalled: 'Opposite the State House Robert E. Russell, formerly a tailor, had somewhat later, a flower garden of an acre in extent, where he received a handsome income from the sale of roses and other plants. In 1839 he was deeply involved in buying and reselling mulberry trees, a popular pursuit in the East at the time (Alexander Walsh, issuer of Hard Times tokens in Lansingburgh, New York, was similarly involved). An article in the Fayette Observer, August 21, 1839, stated that he was set to purchase 100,000 of the trees! Russel lived at the northwest corner of Washington and Assembly Streets....' "He opened a new bath on the grounds in 1842, charging 25 cents (two bits) for a warm bath. His 1837-dated tokens would have been useful in such transactions. The assumption is made that these tokens were struck in New York City, slightly later than the year indicated. In the early 1850s, Russell opened the Palmetto House hotel nearby his establishment. "Robert E. Russell died in March 1854 at the age of 59. He was survived by his wife Sarah and at least five young children. He earlier marriage to another woman, Martha Taylor, who was later described as 'notorious,' ended when she ran off with a Mr. Durang, a performer at Young's Theatre." Russell's token has long been recognized as scarce, and it has also been one of the most popular Hard Times varieties due to its use of the Feuchtwanger obverse. Bowers estimates that several dozen specimens are known today, most of which grade VF or EF. High quality AU pieces such as this are rare, Mint State examples all but unknown. This piece ranks behind only the Boyd-Ford, Miller-Oechsner (both Mint State) and the primary Bowers specimens (PCGS AU-58) as the fourth finest known. Provenance: From the Q. David Bowers Collection. Earlier ex Stephen L. Tanenbaum estate, November 2013. The plate token for the variety in the 2015 Whitman Guide Book of Hard Times Tokensby Q. David Bowers. Collector tag with attribution and provenance notes included. Click here for certification details from PCGS.