Undated (1844) Henry Clay / Know Nothing Campaign Medal. DeWitt-HC 1844-15, Musante GW-166. White Metal. Fine, Holed.
38 mm. Pierced for suspension at 12 o'clock, as always seen. This medal does not name Henry Clay, but instead displays the explicitly nativist sentiments of the Native American Party, also known as the Know Nothings, who endorsed Clay in 1844. The obverse peripheral legend reads AMERICAN REPUBLICANS! / BEWARE OF FOREIGN INFLUENCE!! (with double exclamation points), while the eagle flies a banner reading WASHINGTON from its beak and dispatches with symbols of monarchy below: an order or decoration of some sort, the papal mitre and St. Peter's Keys (symbolic of Catholics), and a crown and scepter at right. The reverse legends further espouse a jingoistic and nativist theme: JUSTICE TO ALL / OUR COUNTRY FIRST. Medium pewter gray, bent and flattened. A fascinating type that we've sold on just one occasion since offering four specimens in the September 2013 Ford sale.
From the Harry and Phyllis Salyards Collection. Earlier from Bill McKivor, November 2016.

Estimate: $125