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Cass & Butler: A Prohibitively Rare "Pewter Rim" From the 1848 Campaign....
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Sold on May 13, 2009 for:
$11,950.00
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Description
Cass & Butler: A Prohibitively Rare "Pewter Rim" From the 1848 Campaign. Of the "modern era" presidential candidates (since 1824), no one's campaign memorabilia is rarer than that of Lewis Cass. With the exception of a few widely distributed metal tokens, items for his victorious opponent, Zachary Taylor, are also quite rare. Possibly the country had grown tired of campaign novelties after the huge volume of items produced during the 1840 and 1844 elections. In any case, those issued for Cass ranged from scarce to exceedingly rare. Probably fewer than a dozen copies of all ribbon varieties are known, and ribbon prices begin around $10,000 and go up from there.Even rarer are these colorful "pewter rims," with Cass on one side and his running mate William Butler on the other. Their precise intended use is unclear. They were formed by covering the candidate's image with thin glass, held in place by the pewter rim. Some varieties feature the running mate on the reverse, while others in the mirror. Pewter rims were first introduced during the 1820s. The earliest examples picture John Quincy Adams or Andrew Jackson. They were on a smaller size, and may well have been intended as wearing badges. Many varieties are found with a wire loop at the top for suspension. However, this Cass example, and its Taylor mate, are much larger and heavier, seemingly too massive to wear comfortably. The present Cass example has no suspension loop, as made. Perhaps they evolved into pocket pieces. In any case, it seems they were never widely distributed. Despite their durable construction, it is safe to say that fewer than one hundred examples for all candidates together are known in institutional and private collections. There are at most a half dozen of this Cass & Butler.
Cass & Butler pewter rims appear so infrequently on the market that meaningful comparables are almost nonexistent. We have handled two in the last decade, the first, when the U.I. "Chick" Harris example sold for nearly $15,000 (including BP), and the second in 2005 for $12,330 (including BP).Last year Heritage was privileged to offer two 1844 Polk & Dallas examples, both of which, although not in as nice condition as this Cass & Butler, averaged nearly $10,000 each. While Polk items are also rare, they are generally considered a notch below Cass items in desirability, and the Polk and Dallas images were black-and-white, whereas Cass and Butler are in vibrant color. Beautiful condition. Diameter 65mm.
Auction Info
2009 May Grand Format Political & Americana Auction #6013 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
May, 2009
13th-14th
Wednesday-Thursday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 13
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 1,579
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
19.5% of the successful bid per lot.
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