1917 Assay Commission Medal - JK-AC-61, Bronze, U.S. Treasury Seal

Coin Details

Auction Record

$1,200 SP64 08-23-2024 Stack's Bowers

Description

The 1917 Assay Commission medal in bronze, cataloged as JK-AC-61, features the Seal of the United States Treasury in the third consecutive year of this institutional obverse design. The United States had entered World War I in April 1917, and the commission's proceedings took on added significance as the Mint ramped up production to meet wartime demands for circulating coinage — wartime economic expansion and military spending drove unprecedented coin production at all three operating mints. The Treasury seal on the medal symbolized the department's central role in financing the war effort through Liberty Bond drives organized by Treasury Secretary William Gibbs McAdoo. Chief Engraver Charles Barber, who had supervised the production of Assay Commission medals for nearly four decades, died in February 1917, potentially affecting the production of that year's medal. The bronze composition indicates standard distribution to commission members.

Rarity Notes

JK-AC-61, bronze (AE) composition. Third year of Treasury Seal obverse. Standard commission distribution. Produced during the first year of American involvement in World War I.

Cross References

PCGS #972613; JK-AC-61; U.S. Treasury Seal; 1917 Assay Commission