1886 White Metal So-Called Dollar HK-601, Albany Bicentennial

Coin Details

Auction Record

$120 MS62 06-23-2020 Stack's Bowers

Description

Cataloged as HK-601, this 1886 so-called dollar commemorates Albany Bicentennial in New York. Centennial celebrations were among the most significant civic events in American communities, marking 100 years since a city's founding, incorporation, or other milestone with parades, ceremonies, and the issuance of commemorative medals. Struck in white metal (a tin-based alloy), this piece represents one of the most common compositions for 19th-century commemorative medals. White metal's low cost and attractive silvery appearance made it ideal for mass-distribution commemoratives. The production of commemorative medals in America supported a network of skilled engravers, die sinkers, and press operators whose craft combined artistic sensibility with industrial precision. New York's position as America's commercial capital and most populous state generated one of the richest traditions of commemorative medal production, with events ranging from the Erie Canal's completion to the Hudson-Fulton celebration producing significant medallic series. Collectors of so-called dollars pursue pieces by exposition, metal type, engraver, geographic region, or historical theme, with complete sets of certain exposition groups being particularly prized accomplishments. Pre-1900 local commemorative medals are among the most historically significant in the so-called dollar series, documenting the celebrations of communities still within living memory of their founding or early settlement periods.

Rarity Notes

HK-601 is moderately 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-601; PCGS #643044