The Philadelphia Loan Company- 6 1/4 Cents
The Panic of 1837 was influenced by the economic policies of President Jackson. During his term, Jackson created the Specie Circular by executive order and refused to renew the charter of Second Bank of the United States, leading government funds to be withdrawn from the bank. Jackson was motivated by the concern that the government was selling land for state bank notes of questionable value and that the bank was issuing excessive paper money unbacked by specie reserves.
The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis, or market correction, driven by speculative fever. Inflation became rampant after federal deposits to the Second Bank of the United States were withdrawn, based on the assumption that the government was selling land for state bank notes of questionable value. On May 10, 1837, every bank in New York City began to accept payment only in specie ("hard money" usually in the form of gold and silver coinage), forcing a dramatic, deflationary backlash. The Panic was followed by a five-year economic depression fraught with bank failure and unprecedented unemployment levels.
Artwork Details
- Title: The Philadelphia Loan Company- 6 1/4 Cents
- Engraver: Underwood, Bald, Spencer, & Hufty
- Date: 1837
- Medium: Engraving
- Dimensions: sheet: 2 1/2 x 6 5/16 in. (6.4 x 16 cm.)
- Classifications: Prints, Ephemera
- Credit Line: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1951
- Object Number: 51.508.1(4)
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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