(1868) Medal DeWitt HS 1868-8 White Metal Horatio Seymour Campaign

Coin Details

Description

This white metal campaign medal for Horatio Seymour from the 1868 presidential election is cataloged as DeWitt HS 1868-8. Seymour was the Democratic nominee who faced Grant in the first postwar presidential election. A former governor of New York, Seymour was a reluctant candidate who accepted the nomination only after the convention deadlocked between other contenders. His campaign was handicapped by the Democratic Party's association with the Copperhead movement and its ambiguous relationship with Southern white supremacist violence during Reconstruction. Seymour's campaign slogan focused on states' rights and opposition to radical Reconstruction, positions that appealed to white Southerners and Northern conservatives but alienated the growing African American electorate and moderate Republicans. The white metal composition indicates this was a mass-distribution campaign piece. Seymour campaign material is significantly scarcer than Grant material from the same election, reflecting both the smaller scale of Democratic campaign operations and the lower survival rate of losing candidates' pieces. Seymour won only 80 electoral votes to Grant's 214.

Rarity Notes

White metal campaign medal from 1868. DeWitt HS 1868-8. Horatio Seymour Democratic campaign piece. Significantly scarcer than Grant material from the same election.

Cross References

PCGS #813290; DeWitt HS 1868-8; 1868 Presidential Election; Horatio Seymour