Cooper’s Free Library

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

In 1859 the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, generally referred to as Cooper Union, was established in New York City, and this venerable institution is still going strong. Interestingly, its founder, Peter Cooper (1791-1883), received very little schooling and had to start working at an early age. He used his savings to purchase a glue factory for $2,000 in 1821, and within two years it was producing an annual profit of $10,000 (the equivalent of more than $250,000 today).

Not content to simply enjoy life as a wealthy man, in 1828 Cooper purchased and developed 3,000 acres of land in Maryland, and in the process he discovered iron ore on the property. He established the Canton Iron Works in Baltimore to provide the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad with iron rails. In 1830, using an assortment of old parts, he built the Tom Thumb steam locomotive for the railroad. This is considered the first successful steam locomotive, and ultimately it made Cooper one of the richest men in the country.

Private School

Despite his limited formal education, Cooper had a strong interest in adult education. He decided to create a private institute that would offer classes in mechanical arts and science. Construction started in 1853, and Cooper Union became a reality six years later, with the $600,000 cost paid entirely by its founder. Night classes were offered at no cost to qualified applicants. A School of Design taught engraving and lithography to women during the day.

Two U.S. Mint engravers, Victor David Brenner and Augustus Saint-Gaudens, are among the numerous Cooper Union students who became prominent in their chosen professions. Another name known to many numismatists is Benjamin Stainsby Whitehead, who learned the printing trade at an early age. Following his graduation, he established a printing company, and in 1876 he exhibited printing samples at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition. In 1892 he became partners with Chester Hoag, under the name Whitehead and Hoag. This Newark, New Jersey, business became one of the country’s largest manufacturers of tokens, medals, celluloid badges, and a large variety of advertising items.

Reading Room Tokens

Over the years, Cooper Union has presented numerous types of award medals. However, the subject of this article is a pair of tokens issued by the Union’s reading room. The September 26, 1859, issue of the New York Tribune announced, 

“The great hall on the third floor has been arranged as a reading room, and will be supplied with all the leading foreign and domestic newspapers and magazines. It will be open after the 1st of November, from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m., free to all persons, male and female, of good moral character, who comply with the regulations. This department is designed especially for the use and instruction of the working classes; but none will be excluded so long as its capacity is not exhausted.”

Although the lettering style differs, the wording on the two tokens is identical, with COOPER UNION/CHECK/FOR BOOKS AND/PAMPHLETS/TO BE/RETURNED/(OVER) on the obverse. The reverse reads COOPER UNION/READING ROOM/EXIT TICKET/PLEASE RETURN/AT THE DOOR/(OVER). Each token is 38mm, but that is where their resemblance ends.

Token Innovations 

During the 1860s, two innovative types of tokens appeared. One was the hard-rubber token, the earliest of which were used during the Civil War era. These were made by placing sheets of rubber into pre-heated hydraulic presses containing dies, and these presses likely bore some resemblance to large waffle irons. The product was formed with a combination of heat and pressure. Rubber tokens were made in black, maroon, brick red, and various shades of brown, as well as a few more colors in the late 19th century. The Cooper Union token is made of brick-red rubber.

The other type is a shell card, a token that, as the name suggests, consists of a shell construction with a paper filler to lend rigidity, and an overlapping metal rim to hold the two sides together. The obverse is usually embossed brass or printed cardboard with the issuing merchant’s advertisement. On most examples, the reverse is embossed brass, with an imitation of a $20 gold coin or a Seated Liberty silver dollar. Tokens of this construction were first made in 1868, and like the hard-rubber tokens, they were used through the 1880s.

Both tokens are rare, and probably less than 10 examples of each are in collectors’ hands today. This is understandable, considering that in most cases only a few hundred were produced at most. And, unfortunately for collectors, unlike coins, recipients of the tokens would usually discard them. 

As for Cooper Union, this venerable institution is still educating students, although it recently experienced financial difficulties. In 2014 it was forced to end its policy of offering free tuition. Four years later, it announced a plan to gradually reinstate the policy for undergraduates, and Cooper Union’s present goal is to again offer 100-percent free tuition by 2029. 

I welcome readers’ comments. Write to me at P.O. Box 2866, La Plata, MD 20646. If a reply is desired, please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

---

A version of this article appears in the May 2026 issue of The Numismatist (money.org)