James A. Garfield Presidential Silver Medal

President James Garfield exemplified the American dream, showing that hard work, intellect, and dedication to public service could take a boy born in a frontier cabin to the highest office in the land. Before he was elected as the 20th President of the United States, he was the youngest person elected to the Ohio State Legislature as well as the youngest Major General in the Union Army during the Civil War. Many admired his accomplishments, including his predecessor President Rutherford B. Hayes who said of Garfield “No man ever started so low that accomplished so much, in all our history.”

Garfield aimed to end the spoils system that awarded government positions as political favors, instead making appointments based on merit and skill. He was eager to protect the rights of disenfranchised Americans, many of whom had survived slavery, stating in his inaugural address that “There can be no permanent disfranchised peasantry in the United States.” Sadly, only four months after his inauguration an assassin’s bullet stopped Garfield from pushing his reforms forward, with the President succumbing to his wounds only 199 days into his Presidency. His vice President, Chester A. Arthur, took on the Presidency and brought his proposed reforms forward into law.

This stunning Presidential Silver Medal commemorates James Garfield’s Presidency in 99.9% fine silver. It was expertly crafted by the United States Mint.