The Panic of 1837 began in New York City, as U. S. banks begin accepting payment only in specie – gold and silver coinage – due to the bursting of a speculative bubble based on the sale of land by the government for state bank notes of questionable value. The financial crisis resulted in a five-year depression – and encompassed the nascent years of daguerreotypy, 1839 and 1840 – marked by failing banks and record-high unemployment levels. This crisis facilitated the growth of the new daguerreotype profession that required only a small amount of capital, a room with a window, and a relatively inexpensive daguerreotype camera – perhaps of “the cigar box and spectacle lens” model developed by Draper. The earliest portrait takers, such as Morse and Draper, were in fact more occupied by the requests of aspiring daguerreotypists wishing to be trained in the art of portrait taking than they were with clients wishing to have their portraits taken.