1910 Assay Commission Medal - JK-AC-54, Bronze, William H. Taft

Coin Details

Auction Record

$1,020 MS64 03-29-2023 Stack's Bowers

Description

The 1910 Assay Commission medal in bronze, cataloged as JK-AC-54, features President William Howard Taft on the obverse. Taft had assumed the presidency in March 1909 as Roosevelt's hand-picked successor, and the 1910 medal represents the beginning of his own run on the Assay Commission series. Weighing over 300 pounds, Taft presented engravers with a distinctive portrait subject — his ample frame and walrus mustache made him one of the most visually recognizable presidents of the era. As a former judge and future Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Taft brought a legalistic temperament to the presidency that contrasted sharply with Roosevelt's dramatic style. The Assay Commission proceedings during Taft's administration continued their traditional function of verifying the weight and fineness of the previous year's coinage output, which by 1910 included the full range of redesigned denominations that Roosevelt's aesthetic revolution had produced. The bronze composition marks this as a standard distribution piece for commission members.

Rarity Notes

JK-AC-54, bronze (AE) composition. Standard commission member distribution. First year of the Taft presidential portrait sequence on Assay Commission medals.

Cross References

PCGS #512450; JK-AC-54; William H. Taft; 1910 Assay Commission