(1840) Token DeWitt-Unlisted Brass Holed Maj. Gen. W.H. Harrison Campaign

Coin Details

Description

This holed brass campaign token for Major General William Henry Harrison from the 1840 election bears the designation "DeWitt-Unlisted," meaning it is a variety not cataloged in J. Doyle DeWitt's standard reference work on campaign medals and tokens. Unlisted varieties are particularly exciting to political numismatics specialists because they represent discoveries beyond the established catalog, potentially expanding our knowledge of the 1840 campaign's material production. The existence of unlisted Harrison 1840 varieties is not surprising given the decentralized and prolific nature of campaign token manufacturing in that era — small die-sinkers and metalworkers in towns across America produced their own Harrison tokens without any central coordination, and not all of these local productions came to the attention of later catalogers. This brass token, holed for wearing, represents exactly the type of grassroots campaign artifact that was produced in limited quantities by a local smith and distributed at regional Whig rallies. The discovery and documentation of DeWitt-unlisted varieties is an ongoing process in American political numismatics, with new types occasionally surfacing from old collections and estate dispersals.

Rarity Notes

Holed brass campaign token from 1840. DeWitt-Unlisted variety — not in the standard DeWitt catalog. Unlisted varieties are typically rare, with survival rates indicating very limited original production. Significant for expanding the known canon of 1840 Harrison campaign material.

Cross References

PCGS #827558; DeWitt-Unlisted; 1840 Presidential Election; William Henry Harrison