1837 hard times token re strike ?

[greg48]

this is an 1837 hard times token  i think this is a re strike by Charles ira Bushnell in the 1850s it looks like he used the face of one token and the reverse of another according to this only 6 are known to exist ?  does anyone have any other information on this thanks greg

[Just Bob]

I don't believe that your token is a restrike. It appears to be Low-39/HT-52/W-11-170a. (Those are catalog numbers used by Lyman Low, Russel Rulau, and Q. David Bowers, respectively. ) According to Bowers, the same obverse die was used for HT-49 through HT-52, along with an unlisted brass token that he numbers W-11-160b. The reverse die was only used on this token, as far as I can discover. It is listed in Bowers and Rulau as an R2. Also, according to Rulau, it was struck by the Scovill brothers of Waterbury, CT.

Incidentally,  the notion that Bushnell either produced fantasies or had them produced is attributed by Bowers to the fact that Low assumed this was true after two fantasies were found in Bushnell's collection when it was sold. It was repeated as fact by Rulau and even Bowers himself, until he determined it not to be true.

[greg48]

thank you Bob that information helped a lot its nice to no the history behind the token i appreciate your help Greg