1892 Medal DeWitt BH-1892-2 Al Benjamin Harrison Campaign

Coin Details

Auction Record

$168 MS62 08-23-2024 Stack's Bowers

Description

This aluminum campaign medal for Benjamin Harrison from the 1892 presidential election is cataloged as DeWitt BH-1892-2. Harrison, the incumbent president, faced a rematch against Grover Cleveland in the 1892 election. The aluminum composition is historically significant — aluminum was still a relatively novel industrial metal in 1892, having been commercially produced only since the development of the Hall-Heroult process in 1886, and its use for campaign medals represented a modern, forward-looking material choice. Harrison's 1892 re-election campaign was hampered by public opposition to the McKinley Tariff, labor unrest including the violent Homestead Strike of 1892, and the president's cold personal manner that alienated even his own supporters. Republican boss Thomas Platt reportedly said of Harrison, "He was a man of about as much warmth as a snowflake." Cleveland won the rematch decisively with 277 electoral votes to Harrison's 145. This aluminum medal documents one of the earlier uses of the metal for American political material.

Rarity Notes

Aluminum campaign medal from 1892. DeWitt BH-1892-2. Unusual aluminum composition for a campaign medal of this era. Harrison 1892 re-election material.

Cross References

PCGS #887416; DeWitt BH-1892-2; 1892 Presidential Election; Benjamin Harrison; aluminum composition