1891 Assay Commission Medal - JK-AC-34, Copper, William Windom

Coin Details

Auction Record

$408 MS66 03-25-2020 Stack's Bowers

Description

The 1891 Assay Commission medal JK-AC-34 in copper features the portrait of Treasury Secretary William Windom, who died in office just days before the commission's annual meeting. The copper version served as the standard distribution piece for commission members, many of whom would have been personally acquainted with Windom through their service in monetary oversight roles. Windom's two terms as Treasury Secretary spanned critical periods in American monetary history. During his first term (1881), he managed the aftermath of the Bland-Allison Act and the challenge of absorbing mandated silver dollar production. During his second term (1889-1891), he oversaw the implementation of the far more aggressive Sherman Silver Purchase Act, which quadrupled the government's monthly silver acquisition. The copper JK-AC-34 represents the accessible expression of the Mint's tribute to a Treasury Secretary whose career was intimately connected to the monetary issues that gave the Assay Commission its public significance. Windom's sudden death transformed what would have been a standard portrait medal into a memorial, adding unexpected historical weight to the standard-issue bronze pieces.

Rarity Notes

JK-AC-34 (1891) in copper. "William Windom" portrait. Became an inadvertent memorial following Windom's death in January 1891.

Cross References

PCGS #512364; JK-AC-34; 1891 Assay Commission