1890 Assay Commission Medal - JK-AC-33, Bronze, Benjamin Harrison

Coin Details

Auction Record

$720 MS66BN 03-29-2023 Stack's Bowers

Description

The 1890 Assay Commission medal JK-AC-33 in bronze features a portrait of President Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd President, who took office in March 1889. Harrison's presidency would be defined by the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890, which dramatically expanded government silver purchases beyond the Bland-Allison Act levels and would ultimately contribute to the financial panic of 1893. Harrison's portrait on the 1890 Assay Commission medal introduces a new presidential subject to the series following Cleveland's four-year run. The Harrison family had deep connections to American politics — his grandfather William Henry Harrison had been the ninth President — and Benjamin Harrison brought a lawyerly precision to his approach to governance that extended to monetary policy. Charles Barber's portrait of Harrison captures the President's dignified bearing and the full beard that was characteristic of late-nineteenth-century political leaders. The bronze JK-AC-33 served as the standard distribution piece for a commission that would test coins from 1889, a year of transition in national monetary policy as the incoming administration prepared the legislative groundwork for expanded silver purchases.

Rarity Notes

JK-AC-33 (1890) in bronze (AE). First "Benjamin Harrison" portrait in the Assay Commission series.

Cross References

PCGS #512361; JK-AC-33; 1890 Assay Commission