(1835-8) Token HT-298 German Silver, New York & Harlem Railroad Co. NY MS(PCGS#77562)

August 2019 ANA U.S. Coins Auction Rosemont, IL

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

366

等级

MS64

价格

16,093

详细说明

New York--New York. Undated (1835-1838) New York & Harlaem Railroad Co. HT-298, Low-370, W-NY-840-10j, Atwood NY-630Dc. Rarity-5. German Silver. Plain Edge. 18 mm, octagonal. MS-64 (PCGS). Medal alignment. A lovely Choice Mint State example of this neatly designed issue. Both surfaces exhibit a dusting of slate-gray with hints of gold. Boldly struck with a smooth, satiny texture. These tokens seem to have been used intensely, and most survivors grade VF or EF. The Dice-Hicks Collection included one cataloged as About Uncirculated which sold for nearly $1,400 in our (Stack's) July 2008 sale. This one is far superior and likely destined for a wonderful cabinet of Hard Times tokens. Among the earliest of American transportation tokens are the little octagonal pieces bearing on one side a coach on wheels and on the other an inscription. These trace their origin to the New York & Harlem Railroad, or Harlaem as it is spelled on the token. More properly it could be called a street railway. The motive energy was not by a steam engine, at least not at first, but by horsepower in the literal sense of the word. Each coach was drawn by two trusty steeds hitched to the front. Running on steel rails it was certainly the first such line in New York state and one of the earliest in America. The enterprise was incorporated as the New-York & Harlem Railroad on April 25, 1831, to link Harlem, a fine farming and residential district, with the lower reaches of Manhattan. Provenance: Ex F.C.C. Boyd, March 1958; our sale of the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, Part XXIII, August 2013, lot 22282. The plate token for the variety in the 2015 Whitman Guide Book of Hard Times Tokensby Q. David Bowers. Click here for certification details from PCGS.