103242 | UNITED STATES. New York. Jennings, Wheeler & Co. gilt brass Token.

103242  |  UNITED STATES. New York. Jennings, Wheeler & Co. gilt brass Token. Issued 1860 (27mm, 9.95 g, 12h).

 

Slightly stylized outline of North America; CLOTHING / FOR THE / U. STATES in three lines across; curling below, FREE TRADE FOR THIS CONTINENT // JENNINGS, WHEELER & Co / NEW–YORK, 45 & 47 / CHAMBERS ST in two lines between two rosettes. Edge: Reeded.

 

Miller NY-388A. PCGS MS-63. Exceptionally lustrous and vibrant. A scarce type, especially this appealing.

 

This advertising token for a clothing merchant on Chambers Street in New York City highlights the topic of free trade—a concept omnipresent today. Given that this token was issued over 160 years ago, it serves as an important reminder that trade barriers, especially those poorly conceived and that change on the whim of a man child, can often be ineffective at best and detrimental at worst.

 

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Upload: 3 November 2025.