(1852) Medalet Dewitt FB 1852-4 Brass Franklin Pierce Campaign

Coin Details

Auction Record

$216 MS63 09-21-2022 Stack's Bowers

Description

This small brass medalet for Franklin Pierce, cataloged as DeWitt FB 1852-4, was produced for Pierce's successful 1852 presidential campaign. The catalog prefix "FB" is a variant abbreviation (for "Franklin B."), as Pierce's middle name was not commonly referenced in campaign material. Pierce, a dark-horse Democratic nominee from New Hampshire, defeated Whig candidate Winfield Scott in a landslide, winning 254 electoral votes to Scott's 42 — the most lopsided Electoral College result since James Monroe's nearly uncontested 1820 re-election. Pierce was a compromise candidate selected on the 49th ballot at the Democratic convention after none of the leading contenders — Lewis Cass, Stephen Douglas, James Buchanan, and William Marcy — could secure the necessary two-thirds majority. The brass medalet format indicates this was a small, affordable piece designed for wearing or pocket carry. Pierce's presidency would prove disastrous, as his support for the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 reopened the slavery controversy and led to the bloody "Bleeding Kansas" border war. He remains one of the least favorably evaluated presidents in American history.

Rarity Notes

Brass medalet from 1852. DeWitt FB 1852-4. Pierce campaign material is relatively scarce, as his dark-horse candidacy generated less advance enthusiasm than established candidates.

Cross References

PCGS #887485; DeWitt FB 1852-4; 1852 Presidential Election; Franklin Pierce