1896 William McKinley and Garret A. Hobart Jugate Campaign Medal Silvered White Metal

An 1896 Republican campaign medal for William McKinley and Garret A. Hobart, silvered white metal at 35 mm, uniface. The two portraits overlap facing left, McKinley in front, in the jugate arrangement that carried nearly every ticket of the period. The reverse is blank as struck. The design is known across several metals, copper and gilt copper among them, and the silvered white metal striking is a variant of its own. Silvering over white metal is the least durable finish in the campaign trade, and this piece shows why. The wash has largely gone to dark gray and black oxidation, with spotting and handling marks through the fields. What survived is the relief: both portraits are bold and immediately identifiable, which is the part of a jugate that carries the piece. 1896 was fought over the gold standard against the free coinage of silver, and it produced more medals, badges, buttons and novelties than any American election before it. McKinley and Hobart beat William Jennings Bryan and Arthur Sewall that November.