1884 James G. Blaine Campaign Medal DeWitt JGB 1884-6 Nickel

An 1884 campaign medalet for James G. Blaine, struck in nickel at 30.5 mm, cataloged as DeWitt JGB 1884-6. Nickel is the least common of the base metal choices for campaign work in this period. The alloy is hard, it wore dies quickly, and runs in it were short accordingly. It also does not tone, so a nickel piece either has its original bright surface or it does not. Blaine of Maine, the Plumed Knight, was the Republican standard bearer in 1884 and the most fought over public man of his day. He had been Speaker of the House, a senator, and secretary of state under Garfield, and he would be secretary of state again under Harrison. The presidency was the one office he never got. Ex J. Doyle DeWitt. DeWitt built the reference collection of American political material, some seventy thousand pieces, while rising from claims investigator to president of the Travelers Insurance Company, and his 1959 catalog A Century of Campaign Buttons is the source of the numbering used here. Edmund B. Sullivan revised and enlarged it in 1981. Graded Mint State in hand. Offered raw, without certification.