(1864) Medal DeWitt USG 1864-1 Brass U.S. Grant Campaign

Coin Details

Description

This brass campaign medal for U.S. Grant from the 1864 presidential campaign season is cataloged as DeWitt USG 1864-1. Although Grant did not run for president until 1868, his military success in 1864 — particularly the capture of Vicksburg and his appointment as commanding general of all Union armies — generated a boom-let of political support that produced campaign-style medals promoting him as a potential presidential candidate. Grant consistently declined political overtures during the war, expressing loyalty to Lincoln and insisting that the military situation took priority over politics. The brass composition and DeWitt USG 1864-1 designation indicate this was the first cataloged Grant political medal from 1864, produced by commercial die-sinkers capitalizing on Grant's celebrity. The medal's production reflects the American tradition of political medal-making for popular generals regardless of their actual candidacy — a tradition dating back to Andrew Jackson and continuing through Eisenhower. Grant would eventually accept the Republican nomination in 1868, winning the presidency in a campaign that built on the popularity documented by medals like this one.

Rarity Notes

Brass campaign medal from 1864. DeWitt USG 1864-1. Pre-presidential Grant medal. Produced during his military ascendancy. Moderately scarce.

Cross References

PCGS #946705; DeWitt USG 1864-1; 1864; U.S. Grant; Civil War era political medal