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Medal Name: Eighth President of the United States of America
Struck for: President Martin Van Buren
OBVERSE
MARTIN VAN BUREN PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES A. D. (Anno Domini: The year of our Lord) 1837.
Bust of President Van Buren, facing the right.
REVERSE
PEACE AND FRIENDSHIP.
Two hands clasped in token of amity; on the cuff of the left wrist three stripes, and buttons with the American eagle on them; the other wrist bare;
above the hands, a calumet and tomahawk crossed - Indian emblems of peace and war.
BACKGROUND
Martin Van Buren was born at Kinderhook, Columbia County, New York, December 5, 1782. He received his early education at a common school; was admitted to the bar in the city of New York, 1803; State senator, 1812; attorney-general of New York, 1815; United States senator, 1821-1828; governor of New York, 1828; secretary of State to President Jackson, 1829-1831; appointed minister to England, 1831, but was not confirmed by the Senate; vice-president of the United States, 1833-1837; President of the United States, 1837-1841. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Presidency in 1848. He died at Kinderhook, July 24, 1862.
Source: The Medallic History of the United States of America 1776-1876 by J. F. Loubat, LL.D. (1878)