With the final debate in the rearview mirrior, the 2016 presidential election is entering its last leg but there are still plenty of questions that need to be answered.

Here at Coin World, we won’t make any political predictions. We aren’t in that business. But there have been numismatic angles we’ve pursued this election season, and a new and interesting Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump medal is the latest to get our attention.  

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Long-Stanton Manufacturing Co. is selling its so-called Indecision 2016 medals. The American-made items composed of brass feature profile portraits of Trump and Clinton, one on each side, along with the INDECISION 2016 inscription.

Donald Trump spotted on an item in this Spink sale: On Nov. 10 in London, as part of a larger auction of bonds and stock shares, Spink will offer what it is labeling “The Casino Collection.”

For voters who are still not convinced about who to vote for, the medal might be the perfect tiebreaker.

“Please, don’t take this coin into the voting booth,” Long-Stanton's website jokes. (It’s a medal and not legal tender, however, so the item is technically not a coin.) “It could be distracting to those who have already made up their mind (or they may ask to borrow it). We like to think that John Stanton would smile at the irony or similarity of the campaigns and our candidates coin. History really does seem to find a way of repeating itself.”

A little about Long-Stanton

Long-Stanton was founded in 1862 by John Stanton, who used his experience as an engraver to become the leading producer of Civil War-era private tokens in the United States.

Stanton’s tokens weren’t official by any means (which is why we won’t refer to them as coins), but consumers, merchants, and businessmen at the time treated them as such. The conflict led fearful individuals to hoard all coinage then in circulation, with private minters stepping forward to issue tokens that were widely accepted as money even if legally they were not coins. Private businesses ordered the tokens and then placed them into circulation as a benefit to their customers.

“During the Civil War John Stanton, James Murdock, and Murdock Spencer were the most active manufactures of private currency,” the Long-Stanton website reads. “These were known as Copperheads, Store Cards, Merchant Tokens, Patriotic Tokens, and Sutlers Tokens. Together they produced tokens for at least 440 different merchants in 12 states, with an output between 2000 and 3000 different coins.”

Before the company became a big name in the Midwest, the 1860 presidential race gave them a chance to showcase their medal-making skills.

The history that’s repeating itself? 

In 1860, Abraham Lincoln defeated Stephen A. Douglas and two other candidates for the presidency following a long and contentious campaign.

Medals were made by the company and handed out to voters by each respective party, asking for their support.

The folks at company view the 2016 election as another opportunity to help the undecided as we enter the home stretch of another long, contentious campaign.

The Trump-Clinton medals can be bought on the Long-Stanton website for $8.95 individually, $49.50 for 10, $99.50 for 25, or $350 for 100.