(1889) Bronze Medal GW-1034, PA State Fair

Coin Details

Auction Record

$2,280 MS64 08-23-2024 Stack's Bowers

Description

This bronze medal cataloged as GW-1034 commemorates the Pennsylvania State Fair, produced circa 1889. State fairs were major agricultural and industrial exhibitions in nineteenth-century America, and the Pennsylvania State Fair was among the most prominent. Washington's portrait on a Pennsylvania State Fair medal connected the agricultural exhibition to the first president's identity as a gentleman farmer — Washington was one of the most innovative agriculturalists of his era, experimenting with crop rotation, livestock breeding, and scientific farming methods at Mount Vernon. The bronze composition was standard for fair medals, which were distributed as prizes, souvenirs, or commemoratives. State fair medals document the agricultural and industrial life of the Gilded Age and the continuing use of Washington's image to legitimize and elevate American institutions. The GW-1034 catalog number places this among the late nineteenth-century entries in the Washington medal series.

Rarity Notes

GW-1034, bronze. PA State Fair. Limited fair distribution. Moderate scarcity.

Cross References

PCGS #930556; GW-1034; PA State Fair, bronze