1878 Assay Commission Medal - JK-AC-18, Bronze, George Washington

Coin Details

Auction Record

$2,400 SP66BN 08-23-2024 Stack's Bowers

Description

The 1878 Assay Commission medal JK-AC-18 in bronze features another George Washington portrait design, continuing the presidential theme into a third consecutive year. The year 1878 was transformative for American coinage: the Bland-Allison Act, passed over President Hayes's veto in February, required the Treasury to purchase between two and four million dollars' worth of silver bullion monthly and coin it into standard silver dollars, effectively reversing the most controversial provision of the Coinage Act of 1873. The Assay Commission that convened in early 1878 thus found itself at the center of renewed national attention to coinage policy. The resumption of silver dollar production under the Bland-Allison Act meant the commission would soon be testing the first standard silver dollars struck since 1873, adding a new dimension to its annual responsibilities. William Barber's Washington on JK-AC-18 maintains the dignity and gravitas of the presidential portrait tradition while reflecting the engraver's continued refinement of the subject. Washington's image on the 1878 medal served as a reminder that the monetary system the commission oversaw was rooted in the constitutional vision of the nation's founders, who had empowered Congress to "coin Money, regulate the Value thereof" and had established the Mint as the institutional expression of that authority.

Rarity Notes

JK-AC-18 (1878) in bronze (AE). "George Washington" design. Struck during the year the Bland-Allison Act resumed silver dollar production.

Cross References

PCGS #512298; JK-AC-18; 1878 Assay Commission