1918 Brass So-Called Dollar HK-896, Type-I WWI Peace Medal

Coin Details

Auction Record

$360 MS62 04-26-2022 Stack's Bowers

Description

Cataloged as HK-896, this brass Elder WWI peace medal was produced by Thomas Lindsay Elder during the Great War era, spanning approximately 30 catalog numbers from HK-877 through HK-907. The series divides into three subcategories: peace medals commemorating the November 1918 Armistice and expressing hope for lasting peace; victory medals celebrating the Allied triumph in the Great War and the subsequent Versailles negotiations; and 'Good Luck' medals reflecting wartime superstitious practices, serving as both patriotic souvenirs and talismans for soldiers and their families during a period of profound national anxiety. Elder's WWI medals ranged from straightforward patriotic designs featuring flags, eagles, and shield motifs to more elaborate allegorical compositions. The variety in composition — brass, bronze, aluminum, copper, silver, and antiqued copper — reflects both Elder's commercial instinct to offer pieces at multiple price points and his interest in creating distinct collectible varieties. The lettered suffixes (a, b, c, d) in the HK catalog typically represent different metal compositions of the same die design. The Hibler-Kappen catalog, first published in 1963 by Harold E. Hibler and Charles V. Kappen as 'So-Called Dollars: An Illustrated Standard Catalog,' provides the systematic numbering system (HK numbers) used to identify and classify hundreds of American medals approximately the size of a silver dollar. The catalog has been revised and expanded in subsequent editions, with Jeff Shevlin's contributions significantly expanding the known census.

Rarity Notes

Thomas Elder WWI so-called dollars survive in varying numbers across the extensive series. Brass examples are among the more commonly encountered compositions. Some HK numbers in the Elder WWI range are quite rare, while others are more readily available. The lettered variants (b, c, d suffixes) typically represent rarer die states or compositions.

Cross References

HK-896; PCGS #643713