Some 1848 Lewis Cass presidential campaign pieces.

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by johnmilton, May 30, 2023.

  1. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    The 1848 presidential election was one of two races the Whig Party won during their 20 years of existence. As had been the case for their first win, they ran Mexican War hero, Zachary Taylor. The first time in 1840, they won with William Henry Harrison who died after only a month in office.

    Taylor's opponent was Lewis Cass. If you are from Michigan, Cass is an important figure. He had much to do with the territory and then state's early history. Unfortunately, it is my impression that Cass was past his prime when he ran in 1848.

    All Lewis Cass medalets are scarce to rare. The Democrats avoided issuing campaign pieces because they had the odd idea that the voters had been insulted by the flood of pieces the Whigs issued in 1840.

    Here are some Cass pieces.

    Here is a rare Lewis Cass original example of HC 1848-1. It has a hole so that it could be worn with a string. "The Sub Treasury" refers a branch of the Treasury that conducted the government's banking business. It was the replacement for the Bank of the United States, which Andrew Jackson ended, and his "pet banks" which gave poor service. "The tariff of forty six" refers to a tariff reduction that occurred when James K. Polk was president.

    LC 1848-1 All Org..jpg

    Here is restrike of the same piece.

    LC 1848-1 Restrike All.jpg

    You can tell that this is a restrike because it does not have a hole and there is a die break on the reverse that starts at the "T" in "The." It was also struck on a thicker and heavier planchet. I have both types because the original piece cropped up in one of the DeWitt sales and did not sell for an arm and a leg. I never dreamed that I would own an original piece because there are supposed to be less than 10 known.

    There is another restrike. I have never seen an original piece for sale. The restrikes of both of these pieces were made for collectors circa 1860.

    LC 1848 4 All.jpg

    "The constitution and the freedom of the seas" was a pro-slavery message. According to the constitution, the import of slaves from overseas (Africa) was supposed to end in 1808. That didn't stop some people from continuing to do it. The illegal importation of slaves continued almost up until the Civil War.

    The British ended slavery in their colonies in the late 1830s. After that, they sent out their fleet in intercept any vessels that might be engaging in the illegal slave trade. Since it was illegal for U.S. vessels to bring slaves from Africa, the British incepted some U.S. ships. Cass was playing the the demagogue on this issue to please the slave owners.

    LC 1848-5 All.jpg

    This is the most Lewis Cass campaign token. If you are only going to get one piece for your collection, this is the only one that is somewhat easy to find. When I was dealer, I handled two of them.
     
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  3. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    And here are a couple Zachary Taylor pieces. Taylor didn't say too much about the issues. Most of his campaign was based around the fact that he was a hero of the Mexican War.

    Here is a shell token with a list of battles Taylor won during the Mexican War. A shell token is made of two thin embossed sides that are held together with a bezel. This is a scarce piece.

    ZT 1848-19 Best All.jpg

    Here is a large, original Zachary Taylor piece that is showing some "tin pest pox." These pieces are subject to corrosion. They were made to last for the duration of the election campaign, not 170+ years later.

    The reference to "a little more grape Captain Bragg" refers to Braxton Bragg, who was a Confederate general in the western theater during the Civil War.

    ZT 1848-1 All.jpg

    Here is the most common Zachary Taylor campaign piece that was issued in 1848.

    ZT 1848-21 All.jpg

    Taylor was president for less than two years. After sitting out in the hot sun during a Washington, DC 4th of July celebration event, he went back to the White House and gobbled down a bowl of cherries and iced milk. The water that was used to wash the cherries or the ice that was used to cool the milk was probably contaminated. Taylor took sick and died.

    He was succeeded by everyone's favorite obscure president, Millard Fillmore. Here is an 1856 Fillmore campaign piece. He was the "Know Nothing Party" candidate that year.

    MF 1856-3 All.jpg
     
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  4. LakeEffect

    LakeEffect Average Circulated Supporter

    You really should write that book on tokens you've alluded to in the past. Or maybe CT could collect your posts on the subject into a knowledge-base. ;)
     
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  5. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    I am writing a book for myself. I have written detailed articles about all of the presidential races from 1824 to 1896. I wrote up the early races for myself from 1789 to 1820. There is very little to collect for those years, and a lot of it is uncollectable because it's so rare.

    The trouble is I would have to do one better than the classic book by DeWitt and updated by Sullivan. Collectors would expect rarity ratings, which DeWitt / Sullivan usually ignored. That is tough to do. Once you do it, they will start picking at you that you are wrong.

    Second, after the 1870s, DeWitt Sullivan covered a lot of pieces that were not tokens, medals or medalets. They are far beyond what I collect. Heritage would probably allow me to use their pictures, but the book could get massive.

    Finally breaking even on the book would be tough. A dealer I know spent a lot of time and effort on a new book about Lincoln items. He said he's had a hard time selling the book and getting his money back because it's been put up on the Internet for free.
     
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  6. LakeEffect

    LakeEffect Average Circulated Supporter

    Oh, I understand completely. A great commitment of time and effort, little chance of financial reward, and always being compared to others while being subjected to constant criticism.

    Still, you have a wealth of knowledge that's enjoyed by many here. A casual collection of your writing would be enjoyable, and wouldn't need to be offered up as a definitive or exhaustive treatment of the subject. Now that I think about it, just do an occasional writeup on CT! :)
     
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