1873 Assay Commission Medal - JK-AC-12, Bronze, Archimedes

Coin Details

Auction Record

$840 SP64BN 08-23-2024 Stack's Bowers

Description

The 1873 Assay Commission medal JK-AC-12 in bronze returns to the Archimedes theme, depicting the ancient scientist in a composition that emphasizes the intellectual rigor underlying the assay process. The year 1873 is one of the most consequential in American monetary history: the Coinage Act of 1873, signed by President Grant on February 12, ended the free coinage of silver dollars and placed the United States on a de facto gold standard. The Assay Commission that convened to test the previous year's coins was thus among the last to examine a coinage produced under the old bimetallic regime. Chief Engraver William Barber's Archimedes design for JK-AC-12 may or may not have been conceived with awareness of the impending legislative change, but the choice of the ancient scientist whose "Eureka" moment involved testing the purity of precious metals resonates powerfully in the context of 1873. The commission's role in verifying coin fineness was about to become a matter of intense public interest as the silver controversy erupted. Director James Pollock's final year overseeing the Assay Commission medal program ended with his departure in 1873. The medal bearing his era's artistic vision represents a capstone of sorts for the early formative period of the series, which had evolved from Longacre's experimental patterns into an established annual tradition under Pollock and Barber's joint stewardship.

Rarity Notes

JK-AC-12 (1873) in bronze (AE). "Archimedes" design. Struck during the consequential year of the Coinage Act of 1873.

Cross References

PCGS #512278; JK-AC-12; 1873 Assay Commission