1902 Assay Commission Medal - JK-AC-46, Bronze, Philadelphia Mint

Coin Details

Auction Record

$432 MS63BN 03-25-2020 Stack's Bowers

Description

The 1902 Assay Commission medal JK-AC-46 in bronze features the Philadelphia Mint institutional design in the standard distribution metal. The "Philadelphia Mint" focus of JK-AC-46 marks a departure from presidential portraiture, celebrating the institution where the Assay Commission convened each February rather than the chief executive who appointed its members. The choice of the Philadelphia Mint as subject matter was apt for a year of transition. Theodore Roosevelt had assumed the presidency under traumatic circumstances, and the Mint's engraving department — still under Chief Engraver Charles Barber — preferred an institutional subject that transcended the political uncertainties of the presidential succession. The bronze JK-AC-46 served as the standard distribution piece for commission members in a year when the medal's design spoke to continuity and institutional identity. The Philadelphia Mint had operated continuously since 1792, and its appearance on the Assay Commission medal reminded recipients that their work was part of a tradition stretching back to the nation's founding. The bronze composition ensured wide distribution of this institutional tribute.

Rarity Notes

JK-AC-46 (1902) in bronze. "Philadelphia Mint" institutional design, departing from the presidential portrait convention.

Cross References

PCGS #512445; JK-AC-46; 1902 Assay Commission