Vote The Land / Free - Counterstamped Large Cent Token

Informative,thank you

Bowers avers that there were two organizations which could have been potential candidates for the VOTE THE LAND/FREE counterstamp.

The first was the Free Soil Party.

The second was the National Reform Association.

The National Reform Association and its initiatives took place up to the 1844 Presidential election. Among the various beliefs of the organization was that every American should have the right to own land.


The Free Soil Party, in contrast, had a tenet which believed that as a condition for new states to join the Union, the state had to agree that under no circumstances would slavery be permitted within the state.

The belief from either organization fits nicely into the VOTE THE LAND / FREE counterstamp.

Given both potentialities, Bowers proposed that a better way to narrow down which organization was responsible for the counterstamp was to look at the population of known specimens and their associative dates.

Had the Free Soil Party been responsible for the VOTE THE LAND / FREE counterstamp, there would be many more post-1844 specimens with the counterstamp. However, pursuant to his census, very few (about 5%) date older.

Thus, it would stand to reason that for whatever purpose of the counterstamps, it would have to be something different than the Free Soil Party. And given that the majority of the counterstamp specimens exist prior to 1844, it would stand to reason that it would be more probable that it was for the National Reform Association. Such a probability is heightened by the fact that a spike in the number of counterstamped large cents occurs in the years just prior to the 1844 election, and dwindles to a steady number therebefore -- which would be in line with the various dates of large cents in general circulation.



Those dated later would have been struck whimsically.

The Hard Times Era was from 1833 through 1844. The tokens were struck/counterstamped in the early 1840s up to the 1844 election. That would qualify them as being from the Hard Times Era.

Please clarify why these strikes wouldn't be random from pocket change. Up to specimens dated in the 1830s, there is an even distribution. Thereafter, the numbers increase -- as could be expected since newer coinages would be most prevalent in pocket change.

The numbers cited in the census are those which survive -- Not total struck. In the late 1850s, as the U.S. began to emit small cents, there was a concerted effort by the mint to pull large cents out of circulation given their high copper content. It would stand to reason that the majority of large cents, including those counterstamped, would have been pulled and melted.

Am I misunderstanding what you're saying?

Thanks,

Cheetah

That is in the sources as per the original post.

Enjoying the informative exchange on the sidelines, I am!

While the NRA is the likely issuer of this counterstamp, the Kansas website states: "In 1848, NRA was absorbed into other political movements, like the Free Soil and Abolitionists."

Is it not possible then that some abolitionist participants in the NRA adopted the slogan beyond 1844? This would account for the later dated specimens. My own collection includes three pre-1844 dated coins with this counterstamp. One, a Coronet type, has no date. I've seen others, where the date was worn or absent, too. One just sold on ebay for $99. I strongly suspect that there are a few hundred examples of this counterstamp extant.

In the realm of counterstamped coins, there are examples of stamps having been used after the original issuer had passed. Silversmith, John Aitken, is one such example as I recall. Perhaps, a successor, a son or other member of Aitken's family wanted a keepsake or was simply curious how the stamp would look on a coin?

IMHO, if this dual scenario is true, there's really no means of positive attribution for a given piece, regardless of the date. The NRA would be the default issuer, but who's to say that an abolitionist wouldn't have been proud to share the sentiment ... VOTE THE LAND FREE. Regardless, a great slogan, that; and, a slogan which certainly has present-day implications! From my perspective, this all adds to the mystique of this issue.

I concur. There is but little way that an incontrovertible conclusion can be ascertained.

As per the OP:




And..







My sincere apologies for coming across as being terse. It was not my intent.

In fact I appreciate your ongoing interest and engagement in these topics. (The same sentiment indeed applies to Exo, as well as the others who have posted at various times.) There aren't a lot of us enthusiasts who hold such interests!

Agree no apologies necessary. In reading your article I just wanted to offer another possibility. But more than likely they were struck in a short time period for a specific purpose and on what coinage was available. Pieces could have been struck at later dates but I have been unable to find any dated later than 1844. I too always enjoy reading your posts.