(1880) Token DeWitt WSH-1880-4 Brass W.S. Hancock / W.H. English Campaign

Coin Details

Description

This brass campaign token for the W.S. Hancock and W.H. English Democratic ticket from the 1880 presidential election is cataloged as DeWitt WSH-1880-4. Winfield Scott Hancock was a distinguished Union general who had commanded the heroic defense of Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863, and his military record made him an attractive candidate for Democrats seeking to shed the party's association with the Copperhead movement. William Hayden English of Indiana was selected as his running mate to help carry the crucial swing state. Hancock's campaign promised civil service reform, tariff reduction, and reconciliation between North and South. The brass composition was standard for Gilded Age campaign tokens. Hancock lost narrowly to Garfield, winning the popular vote by fewer than 10,000 votes but losing the Electoral College 214 to 155. His campaign is remembered as the closest election of the Gilded Age and one of the most gentlemanly — both candidates were honorable men who refrained from the personal attacks that characterized many nineteenth-century campaigns.

Rarity Notes

Brass campaign token from 1880. DeWitt WSH-1880-4. Hancock-English Democratic ticket. Losing candidate material is typically scarcer.

Cross References

PCGS #946713; DeWitt WSH-1880-4; 1880 Presidential Election; Winfield Scott Hancock; W.H. English