1893 Medal Eglit-135 Columbian Expo Bronze Chicago Administration Building

Coin Details

Description

This 1893 bronze medal, cataloged as Eglit-135, depicts the Administration Building of the World's Columbian Exposition — one of the most iconic structures of the White City. Designed by Richard Morris Hunt, the dean of American architecture and the first American to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, the Administration Building was the centerpiece of the Exposition's Court of Honor. Its golden dome rose 275 feet above the fairgrounds, making it the tallest structure at the fair and visible for miles across the flat Chicago landscape. The Administration Building served as the administrative headquarters of the Exposition and as the architectural focal point of the great basin around which the major exhibition buildings were arranged. Hunt's design drew on Italian Renaissance and Baroque sources, with a cruciform plan topped by an octagonal dome inspired by the work of Bramante and Michelangelo. The building was deliberately positioned at the western end of the Court of Honor's reflecting pool, creating a dramatic vista that became the most photographed and illustrated scene of the entire Exposition. Medals depicting specific Exposition buildings form an important subcategory within the WCE series. The Administration Building's distinctive silhouette made it a natural subject for medal designers, and its image appears on numerous types in Levine's catalog. This bronze Eglit-135 captures Hunt's masterwork for posterity in a medium that has outlasted the building itself — like all White City structures, the Administration Building was intended as temporary and was demolished after the fair closed.

Rarity Notes

Moderately scarce architectural medal. Building-themed WCE medals are actively collected by both numismatists and architectural historians. The Administration Building subject adds interest and modest premium over generic Columbus portrait types.

Cross References

Eglit-135; PCGS #925036; Administration Building by Richard Morris Hunt