(1889) Brass Medal GW-1104, Equestrian-Centennial Inaguration

Coin Details

Auction Record

$1,800 SP64 11-18-2020 Stack's Bowers

Description

The Musante-Baker GW-1104 medal in brass depicts an equestrian figure of George Washington in celebration of the centennial of his inauguration as the first President of the United States in 1889. The obverse presents Washington mounted on horseback in military regalia, a design motif drawn from the tradition of Roman imperial equestrian portraits adapted to the American republican context. The reverse commemorates the hundredth anniversary of the April 30, 1789 inauguration at Federal Hall in New York City, with appropriate inscriptions marking the centennial observance. This brass striking is one of several metallic variants produced for the 1889 centennial celebrations, which were organized primarily by a committee of prominent New York citizens. The centennial festivثval spanned three days from April 29 through May 1, 1889, and included a grand military and civic parade through lower Manhattan, a banquet at the Metropolitan Opera House, and a reception at the Sub-Treasury Building (the successor structure on the site of the original Federal Hall). President Benjamin Harrison participated in the ceremonies, drawing a deliberate parallel between his own inauguration one month earlier and Washington's a century before. The brass composition gives this piece a golden appearance that distinguishes it from the more common bronze and white metal strikings of the same design. Brass strikings of commemorative medals from this period were typically produced in smaller quantities than bronze versions, making them somewhat scarcer in the collector market.

Rarity Notes

Brass variant of GW-1104. Less commonly encountered than the bronze striking, though not considered rare. Produced for sale as a souvenir of the 1889 centennial celebrations.

Cross References

Musante-Baker GW-1104; PCGS #826466