1892 Assay Commission Medal - JK-AC-36, Silver, Benjamin Harrison

Coin Details

Auction Record

$1,560 MS65 06-17-2022 Stack's Bowers

Description

The 1892 Assay Commission medal JK-AC-36 in silver features a portrait of President Benjamin Harrison, returning to the presidential portrait convention after the Windom tribute of 1891. The silver composition creates a premium version of Harrison's second appearance in the series, struck during the final year of his presidency as the silver controversy continued to intensify. The 1892 commission tested coins from 1891, a year when the Sherman Silver Purchase Act was generating mounting fiscal pressure on the Treasury's gold reserves. The massive silver purchases required under the act were undermining confidence in the government's ability to maintain gold redemption of paper currency, setting the stage for the financial panic that would erupt in 1893. Harrison's silver portrait medal from this period carries the weight of these gathering economic clouds. The President whose administration had enacted the Sherman Silver Purchase Act now appeared on a silver Assay Commission medal during a year when the consequences of that legislation were becoming increasingly apparent. The irony would become fully visible only in retrospect, as the incoming Cleveland administration would make repeal of the silver purchase law its first priority.

Rarity Notes

JK-AC-36 (1892) in silver (AR). Second "Benjamin Harrison" portrait. Silver strikings are scarce presentation pieces.

Cross References

PCGS #512410; JK-AC-36; 1892 Assay Commission