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

Coin Details

Auction Record

$1,560 MS62 05-29-2019 Stack's Bowers

Description

The 1890 Assay Commission medal JK-AC-33 in silver is a presentation striking of the first Benjamin Harrison portrait design. The silver composition creates a premium version of Harrison's inaugural appearance in the Assay Commission series, appropriate for presentation to senior officials during a year when silver policy was at the forefront of national political discourse. The Sherman Silver Purchase Act, passed in July 1890, required the Treasury to purchase 4.5 million ounces of silver monthly — nearly double the Bland-Allison Act requirement — using a new instrument called Treasury notes of 1890. This dramatic expansion of silver purchasing made the Assay Commission's verification of coin quality more consequential than ever, as the volume of silver coinage was set to increase substantially. Silver strikings of the Harrison portrait medal carry particular resonance given the Harrison administration's association with expanded silver policy. The very metal from which this presentation piece is struck was at the center of the political controversy that defined Harrison's presidency, lending the silver JK-AC-33 a symbolic dimension beyond its numismatic value.

Rarity Notes

JK-AC-33 (1890) in silver (AR). First "Benjamin Harrison" portrait. Silver strikings are scarce.

Cross References

PCGS #518434; JK-AC-33; 1890 Assay Commission