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If you’re a politician, it’s one thing to see your face and policies made fun of in a political cartoon. But satirical currency? That’s a whole different level of critique.

A special piece of this political history billed as “the most unhinged banknote ever printed” recently sold for a whopping $4,800 . This fake bank note lampoons the terrible banking policy under cheese-loving President Andrew Jackson and offers us a window into understanding the political slings and arrows tossed around during the Hard Feelings Era, a real historical era from 1832 to 1844 named for a severe economic downturn linked to bad banking practices.

The Locofoco Party and a big fiscal panic

The valuable paper bill is a “Great Loco Foco Juggernaut,” named after the Locofoco Party . This radical wing of the Democratic Party was organized in New York City in 1835.…