1885 So-Called Dollar HK-145a, GW-1003 Bronze Washington Monument

Coin Details

Auction Record

Description

HK-145a is the bronze striking of the 1885 Washington Monument medal, 45 mm, a companion to the white metal HK-145. Its reverse is almost a fact sheet: the obelisk stands in the center, with "Cor. stone laid July 4, 1848" and "555 ft. high" on one side and "Dedicated Feb. 21, 1885" and "81200 tons" on the other. The white marble shaft is 55 feet square at its base, and visitors reach the eight small windows at the 500-foot level by a stairway of 900 steps or by an elevator that took seventy seconds. Building stalled after six years amid controversy, and only in 1880 did the Corps of Engineers take it up again at government expense; the monument opened to the public on October 9, 1888. The obverse carries Washington's bust in very high relief.

Cross References

HK-145a; PCGS #642399; NGC #851918