This token was given to Thomas Sargent by his grandfather and was the key object that sparked his interest in economics. Hard-times tokens were privately issued, unofficial currency. They were issued in the U.S. during the financial and political turmoil of 1833-1843. Hard-times tokens often had a satirical political content. This particular token, issued in 1834, is advocating against President Andrew Jackson. Sargent has subsequently published papers on the history and development of economics in the U.S.
Thomas Sargent donated the token to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2011.
This medal, the Belden Mathematical Prize, was awarded to Moses Greenfield in 1935, on the occasion of being the second best mathematics student in the New York City public schools. Greenfield is Thomas Sargent’s father-in-law and gave him this medal after they co-authored a research paper in 1993.
Thomas Sargent donated the medal to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2011.
This T-shirt is from the Minnesota Economics Department at the University of Minnesota, where Thomas Sargent worked in the 1970s and 1980s. The image is a paraphrase of Eugène Delacroix’s painting "Liberty Leading the People", which celebrates the July Revolution in France in 1830. Instead of the national motto of France, “Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité” (“Liberté, égalité, fraternité”) it says “Equilîbrité, Optimâlité, Calîbrité”, which is faux-french for “Equilbrium, Optimality, Calibration” – key concepts in econometrics.
Thomas Sargent donated the T-shirt to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2011.
