1898 Assay Commission Medal - JK-AC-42, Copper, William McKinley

Coin Details

Auction Record

$881 MS63 01-09-2013 Heritage Auctions

Description

The 1898 Assay Commission medal JK-AC-42 in copper features the first McKinley portrait in the standard distribution metal. The copper version provided the baseline issue for commission members during a year of wartime activity and national expansion. McKinley's copper portrait medal served as the standard recognition piece for commission members who tested coins from 1897 — the transitional year between the Cleveland and McKinley administrations. The coins produced under both administrations were subject to the same statutory fineness standards, but the political environment surrounding monetary policy had shifted dramatically with McKinley's election and his explicit commitment to the gold standard. The copper JK-AC-42 begins the four-year McKinley sequence that would extend through JK-AC-45, creating a compact presidential sub-collection that documents the final years of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth. Charles Barber's portrait of McKinley in copper establishes the visual template that would be refined in subsequent annual issues.

Rarity Notes

JK-AC-42 (1898) in copper. First "William McKinley" portrait. Standard distribution piece.

Cross References

PCGS #512392; JK-AC-42; 1898 Assay Commission