President and Civil War General Ulysses S. Grant Ferrotype Campaign Token from the 1868 Presidential Election

U. S. Grant

Photograph

Grant, Ulysses S. ferrotype campaign token, 1868, documents the translation of Civil War military leadership into electoral authority during the first presidential contest of the Reconstruction era. Produced for Grant’s successful presidential campaign, the token situates the former commanding general of Union forces within a rapidly expanding culture of political memorabilia that linked wartime victory to postwar governance. Grant’s candidacy followed his leadership in securing Union victory and overseeing aspects of Reconstruction policy, making his public image central to debates over federal authority, civil rights for formerly enslaved people, and the reintegration of Confederate states. Campaign objects such as this token circulated widely among voters, functioning as portable political statements that reinforced loyalty to Union leadership and the Republican Party’s Reconstruction agenda.

Ulysses S. Grant ferrotype campaign token. United States: issued for the presidential election of 1868. Brass-framed token approximately 25 mm in diameter, constructed with three concentric rims, including a central rope-twist design, enclosing a circular ferrotype portrait of Grant measuring approximately 12 mm. The use of a ferrotype photographic insert reflects mid-19th-century innovations in image reproduction, allowing photographic likenesses to be embedded within durable, mass-produced political objects. Such tokens were distributed and retained as personal emblems of political affiliation, combining photographic realism with ornamental metalwork to create recognizable and widely circulated campaign imagery.

The 1868 election marked a critical phase in Reconstruction, as federal policy confronted ongoing resistance in the former Confederacy and the question of Black citizenship and suffrage remained central to national politics. Grant’s elevation to the presidency signaled continuity between Union military victory and federal enforcement of Reconstruction measures, including support for the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. Objects of this kind demonstrate how political identity and historical memory were materialized through everyday items, embedding national debates over citizenship, authority, and postwar order into personal possession and public display.

Light surface wear consistent with age; ferrotype image remains clear; brass frame intact with minor toning. Overall very good.

Item #11030

Price: $650.00