(2021) Presidential Silver Medal - Martin Van Buren

Coin Details

Auction Record

$53 MS69 02-05-2022 eBay

Description

The 2021 Martin Van Buren "1837" silver matte finish medal honors the eighth President of the United States in the Presidential Silver Medal Program. Van Buren's inauguration in 1837 made him the first president born after American independence, the first of Dutch descent, and the only president whose first language was not English — he grew up speaking Dutch in the Hudson Valley village of Kinderhook, New York. His single term was dominated by the Panic of 1837, a severe economic depression that struck just weeks after he took office and persisted throughout his presidency. Van Buren was the consummate political operator of the Jacksonian era, earning nicknames like "the Little Magician," "the Red Fox of Kinderhook," and "Old Kinderhook" (from which the expression "O.K." may derive). He built the Democratic Party's organizational machinery, served as Jackson's Secretary of State and Vice President, and perfected the art of political coalition-building. His response to the depression — establishing the Independent Treasury System — was economically sound but politically disastrous, and he lost his 1840 re-election bid to William Henry Harrison in a campaign famous for the "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" slogan. Martin Van Buren (1782-1862) remained politically active after leaving office, running as the Free Soil Party candidate in 1848 on an anti-slavery-expansion platform. The .999 fine silver matte finish medal captures Van Buren's distinctive mutton-chop whiskers and balding pate.

Rarity Notes

Part of the 2021 release cycle in the Presidential Silver Medal Program. Produced during a defined mintage period. Available in the secondary market.

Cross References

PCGS #857758