Owner Comments:
Medal, 1881, BR, JAMES GARFIELD TOKEN/MEDAL "CANAL BOY TO PRESIDENT " 25mm. Medalet of President James Garfield, 1881. Brass. Very Fine, Holed as Issued, Scratch. DeWitt JG 1880-8. Holed for suspension.
Obv: JAMES A. GARFIELD, enclosing bust of Garfield to left. Rev: Representation of the White House above a scene depicting a boy riding a horse towing a boat in a canal; in exergue, Canal Boy 1845, President 1881.
Less than a year after his election to the presidency, this medalet, originally struck for the 1880 campaign, was reissued with a different exergue inscription to commemorate Garfield's death. It would have been attached to a black ribbon and worn on the lapel by a mourner.