New York--Lansingburgh. 1835 Walshs General Store. HT-216, Low-99, W-NY-150-10a. Rarity-1. Copper. Plain Edge--Struck 15% Off Center--AU-50 BN (NGC).28.5 mm. Coin alignment, with the impression off center at 7 oclock relative to the obverse. (NGC has mounted this token with the reverse up in the holder.) Those design elements that are present retain bold detail with just light wear. The surfaces are richly toned in antique golden-brown. A spot in the right obverse field is noted for accuracy. <p>The term used on the reverse of the token may have come from the title of a 17th century English play, <em>Speed the Plough</em>, by Thomas Morton. It was used earlier as well, as in an observance called Plow Monday in England in the 14th century, with a poem beginning "God speed the plow." By 1835 the term was well-known.<p>Storekeeper Alexander Walsh admired Lafayette and may have met him in 1824 when the French hero of the American Revolution was given a special reception in Troy. The plan was for Lafayette to go by boat from Albany across the Hudson River and north to Troy, then by land to Lansingburgh and Waterford, then to Cohoose Falls to board a boat. However, the ceremony ran late into the day and he was not able to go there. Instead he boarded a boat and returned to Albany. Lafayette was featured on certain of Walshs 1835-dated tokens. In 1839 Henry Clay called upon Walsh in Lansingburgh. Alexander Walsh retired in 1846 and died on August 3, 1849From the Sherwood Collection.
