1860 Token DeWitt-JCB-1860-3 John C. Breckinridge-Brass Campaign

Coin Details

Description

This brass campaign token for John C. Breckinridge from the 1860 presidential election is cataloged as DeWitt JCB-1860-3. Breckinridge, the sitting Vice President under James Buchanan, was the nominee of the Southern Democratic faction that split from the regular Democratic convention over Stephen Douglas's refusal to endorse a federal slave code for the territories. At 36, Breckinridge was the youngest Vice President in American history, and his 1860 candidacy represented the proslavery Southern Democratic position that the federal government was constitutionally obligated to protect slave property in all territories. He carried eleven slave states with 72 electoral votes but was viewed throughout the North as a disunionist, a characterization that was unfair to his actual position but reflected the extreme polarization of 1860 politics. After Lincoln's election, Breckinridge served briefly in the U.S. Senate before joining the Confederate Army, eventually becoming the Confederacy's last Secretary of War. This brass campaign token is a scarce artifact of the Southern Democratic campaign, as fewer campaign tokens were produced for Breckinridge than for Lincoln or Douglas.

Rarity Notes

Brass campaign token from 1860. DeWitt JCB-1860-3. Southern Democratic campaign material is scarce, as Southern token production was more limited than Northern. Breckinridge items are prized by Civil War era collectors.

Cross References

PCGS #970861; DeWitt JCB-1860-3; 1860 Presidential Election; John C. Breckinridge; Southern Democrats