I have a large number of 19th presidential campaign tokens so it's rare when I get a chance to add a new piece to my collection. This James K. Polk piece from his 1844 campaign is an unusual find. This is a shell token. It is hollow inside. An image is embossed on a thin piece of brass for each side of the piece and held together with a bezel. These pieces are often gilted, but this one has been silvered. All 1844 James Polk campaign pieces were scarce to rare. In 1840 the opposition Whig Party issued thousands of campaign pieces for their candidate, William Henry Harrison. The Democrats took exception to that and wrote into their 1844 platform that they would not insult the voters with such campaign trinkets. Therefore they issued a small number of pieces in 1844. Polk’s opponent, Henry Clay, issued many pieces. The Democrats continued that policy in 1848 when they ran Lewis Cass for President. After Cass lost, they backed off on that policy although the Democrats continued to issue fewer tokens than the Whigs, who were replaced by the Republican Party in 1856. I purchased this piece because of the reverse. The “T” that is inside the star stands for Texas. The admission of Texas to the Union as a slave state was a huge issue in the campaign. Former president, Martin Van Buren, came out against it, which cost him the 1844 Democratic Party nomination. Henry Clay tried to straddle the issue, which angered the northern state Whig Party members who were looking to end slavery or limit its spread. A third party, anti-slavery candidate, James Birney, pulled enough votes away from Clay in New York State to cost him the election. This piece is quite scarce. I have only seen a couple of other examples at the political shows in over 30 years of collecting. Here is a Henry Clay shell token from the 1844 race. It is also scarce, especially in this condition, but it's easier to find than the Polk piece.
It is interesting to note that Dallas, Texas is named for James K. Polk's running made, George M. Dallas. Here is a piece that shows both candidats.
Interesting tokens. They must be pretty fragile, being hollow. Thanks for the election history, too. My old high school history teacher liked to quote what she said was a campaign motto for Pierce in the 1852 election: We Polk'd 'em in 44 and we'll Pierce 'em in 52.
Yes, "We Polk'd 'em in '44 and we'll Pierce them 'em in '52." was a slogan from that race. The opposition had their slogans or "witty phrases" too. Here are a couple of them. For much of our history pointing to a good to great military record gave you a big boost when you were running for President. That led some candidates, like Franklin Pierce to “puff up” their military resume. Here is a very scarce 1852 token that depicts Pierce in his military uniform. Pierce did serve in the Mexican War, but his record was not very good. This description appeared in a Louisville, Tennessee newspaper during the 1852 campaign: “Pierce tumbled from his horse just as he was getting ready for one fight … fainted and fell in the opening of the second … got sick and had to go to bed on the eve of the third, and came pretty near to getting into a fourth, missing it only by an hour.” Piece fell off his horse and wrenched his shoulder badly. Later he got Montezuma’s revenge which kept him out of the fight. Therefore his military record didn’t amount to much. Piece also had a drinking problem. One slogan his opponets directed toward him was, "The general who never lost a bottle." Piece was the first of two very weak presidends who served just before the Civil War. James Buchanan was the other one. Both of them were politicians from nothern states who furthered the cause of southern slaveholders.
