The 1837 South Carolina Merchant Token: A Pocket-Sized Piece of Americana

Long before today's world of ubiquitous soft drinks such as Coke and Pepsi, there was a thriving (but mostly forgotten) business in the United States for "soda water" during the mid-1800s. Unlike today's fizzy drinks, soda water at the time was seen as something more medicinal. It was basically just fizzy water without sweetener or flavor, but it was praised as a supposed medical panacea and sold through druggists' shops and doctors!

Heritage Auctions will be offering a great pocket-sized piece of Americana featuring a fancy urn that was intended for holding this odd beverage: an 1837 R.L. Baker Token that was struck for a Charleston, South Carolina seller of soda water. Take a look at the photos of the lot linked below, and you can even see the vapors wafting off of the urn containing this fizzy and supposedly medicinal beverage. It is a fun and campy design.

This token is famous among collectors as the very first token issued in the state of South Carolina. Tokens functioned similarly to coins and allowed you to spend these little coin-like pieces in trade with local businesses. They also helped to assuage the common and recurring problems in America during the 1800s with a lack of small change to use in commerce.

In addition to the special honor of being the first known SC token minted, these pieces are also remembered as part of the popular and beloved "Hard Times Token" series. Hard Times Tokens, or HTTs, were produced between approximately 1833 and 1844. During this period, many banks in the United States failed. The financial system in the young nation was a mess, falling on "hard times." Many tokens were created either in response to these financial issues or even to poke fun at them--many are satirical in nature.

The R. L. Baker token that Heritage is offering will be part of the August ANA Auction #1318. These pieces have great history, and they are also very desirable. Many HTTs can be purchased for under $500, but Baker tokens are so rare that they tend to sell for a few thousand dollars or so! As our catalogers explain, less than 20 are believed to have survived, so they are always popular when they come up for bid.

The bidders may "fizz" with excitement (soda water pun intended!) when this lot comes up for auction:
https://coins.ha.com/itm/hard-times-tokens/1837-rl-baker-charleston-sc-hard-times-token-environmental-damage-ngc-details-xf-low-108-ht-430-r7/p/1318-133001.s

More history here:
http://www.angelfire.com/sc2/tokenofthemonth/token015/