Political Protest Tokens

While I don't actively collect political protest tokens, I have picked up a few along the way.

These are from the Jackson/Van Buren era and are complaining about fiscal policies.

My political beliefs don't match those expressed on these tokens. Had I been alive at that time, I would have been in favor of Jackson (at least on that one issue).  It's true for D. Carr's modern "Hard Times Tokens", too.

I don't happen to own any of Carr's political tokens, but I wouldn't object to them being in my collection even though I disagree with the opinions they reflect.

Recently my attention was directed to a more current example of political expression in a token.

For me, that's too much. It's ugly on too many levels and goes beyond disagreement to personal attack, both on Obama and for those of us who don't think all social programs are evil. I wouldn't put one in my collection because my disagreement is too strong.

This token was also the impetus for me quitting a coin forum where that sort of view is strongly represented. The forum does have rules against "political" posts, but the sentiment is so imbedded  that it seeps through and I'm tired of reading it.  The post about this token was not my only reason; it was more like the straw that broke the camels back.

There are plenty of other coin forums, some where political undercurrents are strong and some where they are not.   See my "Coin Collecting Forums Reviewed" and the discussion thread I mentioned yesterday.

Note: All my coins are in a safe deposit box. I keep nothing in my home.

Contests and giveaways: http://coins.aplawrence.com/2014/05/contests-and-giveaways.html