1893 Assay Commission Medal - JK-AC-37, Copper, Benjamin Harrison

Coin Details

Auction Record

$646 MS65 01-09-2013 Heritage Auctions

Description

The 1893 Assay Commission medal JK-AC-37 in copper features the Benjamin Harrison portrait in the standard distribution metal. The copper version reached the majority of commission members during a year when the American financial system was experiencing its most severe crisis since the Civil War. The Panic of 1893 exposed the fragility of the monetary framework that the Assay Commission was nominally charged with overseeing. While the commission's work focused on the physical quality of coins — their weight and metallic purity — the crisis highlighted the much broader question of monetary policy that gave coin production its economic significance. The commission members who received this copper medal were testing coins produced by a system that was under unprecedented stress. Harrison's portrait on the 1893 copper medal provides the standard-tier documentation of a pivotal year in American history. Charles Barber's rendering of the former President captures Harrison's characteristic dignity in a medium that allowed wide distribution, ensuring that the historical record of the 1893 commission's work was preserved in the hands of all participating members.

Rarity Notes

JK-AC-37 (1893) in copper. "Benjamin Harrison" portrait. Standard distribution piece from the year of the Panic of 1893.

Cross References

PCGS #512373; JK-AC-37; 1893 Assay Commission