As a novice collector, I was urged to buy a copy of J. Doyle DeWitt's A Century of Campaign Buttons. (Revised in 1981 by Dr. Edmund B. Sullivan as American Political Badges and Medalets 1789-1892.)  The original purchase price of $25 was a great investment.  It remains an essential reference work for collectors of pre-1896 material, particularly if your interest lies in tokens.

    One aspect that impressed me was the overall accuracy and reliability of DeWitt's research. Outside of the inclusion of some George Washington inaugural buttons that subsequent research proved to be late 19th-century fantasy pieces, the information and conclusions presented remain rock-solid.  This information consists of diameters, fabric (type of metal used in production), mulings (creating a new variety by combining dies that were unrelated or did not originate together), restrikes, die cutters and engravers, mintage, sales records, and occasional anecdotes referring to production or verifying the existence of unpictured specimens.

    DeWitt devoted several pages of text to the tokens produced for Abraham Lincoln in the election of 1860.  This was a reflection of DeWitt's personal regard for Lincoln, his numismatic roots, and the momentous events of the 1860's.  The 1860's was arguably the golden age of political medals.  Many talented die makers were in their prime. Three presidential elections, the Civil War, and Lincoln's assassination all created the demand for these keepsakes.

    This period also witnessed an ancillary phenomenon - the issuance of restrikes and mulings, creations specifically targeted toward the collector's market.  Dies from the elections of 1848, 1852, and 1856 were brought out of storage and used once again toward this end.  DeWitt also lists approximately three-dozen "non-contemporary" medals issued mainly in the 1860's by Betts, George Lovett, Robert Lovett, Jr., John Bolen, and the U.S. Mint.  Some were fantasy pieces, some issued as commemoratives, all minted to further satiate collectors' demand.

    In sheer numbers, the "collector-fueled" market for medals peaked in 1864. Of the 81 varieties listed by DeWitt, 23 appear to be "of the campaign," leaving 58 collector issues.  In 1860, 50 fall into this category, leaving 26 distinct varieties that saw use as actual campaign medals.  These "twenty-something" figures are reasonable amounts. By comparison, there are 11 distinct medals for Douglas, 7 for Bell, and 4 for Breckinridge.

    Some of the early Lincoln collectors published research in this field. Alfred H. Satterlee wrote a booklet in 1862 that listed presidential medals from Adams to Lincoln.  Excluding metal variations, he counted 26 Lincoln medals. Andrew C. Zabriskie wrote a Lincoln book in 1873, supplemented by Henry Holland two years later. In each case, every entry was assigned a consecutive number.

    DeWitt synthesized this eye-witness research with details gleaned from landmark numismatic auctions, then used common sense to properly interpret incongruities.  As a result, he presented us with a reliable reconstruction of the times and a precision tool for our collecting activity.  How we use this tool - and what one accepts as period or "genuine" - remains, however, a matter of personal taste. 

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