U.S. Hard Times Tokens  by Fred W. A. Smith The ensuing political battle between the US Bankˇ¦s forces and President Jackson created a severe shortage of specie and when the state banks withdrew their inflated credit notes, panicked citizens hoarded all the available hard currency. Lasting twelve years, from 1832 through 1844, this crisis came to be known as ˇ§Hard Times.ˇ¨ It was during this period that the hard times tokens were struck to meet the public need for small change and widely circulated as late as 1860. >> Read the full article...		12/1/2004