“The bank must perish” is a reference to the Bank of the United States, then the largest corporation in the country. The bank issued its own currency, which quickly became the most stable paper money in the land. Because of this, it exercised considerable influence over credit and interest rates. Too much influence for the like of the Jacksonites who felt the bank was being run mostly for the benefit of its wealthy shareholders and to the detriment of the common man.

“The union must and shall be preserved” is a paraphrase of a toast made by Jackson at a Jefferson Day dinner in 1830. Its thrust was a rebuke to those (including his Vice President, John C. Calhoun) who believed in the theory of nullification.

This is the so-called “Small Head” variety as distinguished from the Scowling Head and the Aged Head issues. It is characterized by the first, third and fourth locks at the top of the head turning down and the mouth being equidistant between the nostril and the point of the chin.

(H. Joseph Levine, PCAC, The Charles Litman Collection, December 6, 2003)

Low 1 varieties are historically the most important issue of the Hard Times series. The legend around the reverse wreath is ** THE BANK MUST PERISH **. In the center is THE UNION MUST AND SHALL BE PRESERVED. The pro-Jackson sentiment with regard to the Bank of the United States is obvious. The Union Must etc., legend is a paraphrase of a toast made by Jackson at a Jefferson Day dinner in 1830. Its thrust was a rebuke to those (including his Vice President, John C. Calhoun) who believed in the theory of nullification. These rare tokens were issued in 1832 and were engraved by the firm of Wright and Bale of New York. Formerly they were believed to be the work of Robert Lovett, Sr.

When Low issued the 1899 edition of his book he mentioned only one type of Low 1, giving it a rating of Rarity-6 on a scale of R-1 to 8. Undoubtedly he never had a group of these to compare at one time. Carl Wurtzbath in The Numismatist of March 1910 mentioned a new variety of Low 1, probably the Small Head one. John Ford, in the New Netherlands sale 45 (April 22, 1955) offered a unique set of the three different types of Low 1, illustrating them all for the first time ever. Type I is the Small Head that immediately follows, with Jackson’s head being several millimeters smaller than on the other two types. To our knowledge, [the John J. Ford Collection sale] is the first time all three of the types have been offered publicly at one time since John Ford’s 1955 sale.

Reverse slightly off center to the upper right. This is probably the most “common” of the three head types.

(Stacks, the John J. Ford Collection, Part IV, June 23rd, 2004)