1883 So-Called Dollar HK-594, Exhibit-Foreign Products

Coin Details

Auction Record

$729 AU58 06-05-2013 Heritage Auctions

Description

This 1883 local commemorative so-called dollar (HK-594) honors Exhibit-Foreign Products in Massachusetts. Personal commemorative so-called dollars provide a medallic portrait gallery of Americans whose achievements merited recognition through specially struck pieces, preserving the faces and stories of notable figures. Bronze examples of so-called dollars offer collectors an excellent balance of affordability, condition, and aesthetic appeal. The alloy's hardness produces sharp strikes with fine detail that survives handling better than softer metals. American commemorative medal manufacturers ranged from the U.S. Mint to small regional die-sinkers, with each firm bringing distinctive artistic approaches and production capabilities to the medallic arts. From Plymouth Rock to Bunker Hill, Massachusetts' central role in American history generated numerous commemorative medals celebrating the milestones of communities that shaped the nation's founding and development. The Hibler-Kappen catalog, first published in 1963 by Harold E. Hibler and Charles V. Kappen, systematically organized American so-called dollars for the first time, assigning HK numbers that remain the standard reference today. Local commemorative medals from before 1900 reflect an era when American communities were actively shaping their civic identities, with medal production serving as both celebration and assertion of permanence.

Rarity Notes

HK-594 is scarce among so-called dollar collectors. Local commemorative medals from the Gilded Age were typically produced in limited quantities for distribution at the celebration event.

Cross References

HK-594; PCGS #643017