1860 Token DeWitt AL-1860-36 White Metal Abraham Lincoln Campaign

Coin Details

Auction Record

$504 MS64PL 04-26-2022 Stack's Bowers

Description

This white metal campaign token for Abraham Lincoln from the 1860 election is cataloged as DeWitt AL-1860-36. White metal was the most common composition for mass-distribution campaign tokens in the mid-nineteenth century, and its silvery appearance gave recipients an attractive piece at minimal cost. Lincoln's 1860 campaign required enormous quantities of campaign material to supply the Republican Party's extensive organizational network, which included local party clubs, Wide-Awake companies, and sympathetic newspaper offices across the Northern states. Tokens like this white metal piece were distributed at rallies, carried in pockets, displayed in shop windows, and sometimes strung on chains or ribbons for wearing. The DeWitt AL-1860-36 catalog number places this among the middle varieties of the Lincoln series, suggesting moderate production and availability. Lincoln's public image in 1860 was still being formed — he was not yet the bearded, careworn president of Civil War photographs, and campaign tokens from this period show a clean-shaven Lincoln whose face was not yet widely recognized by the American public.

Rarity Notes

White metal campaign token from 1860. DeWitt AL-1860-36. Mid-range catalog number. White metal composition indicates mass-distribution intent.

Cross References

PCGS #849323; DeWitt AL-1860-36; 1860 Presidential Election; Abraham Lincoln