1929 Medal Light's Golden Jubilee Bronze

Coin Details

Description

The 1929 Light's Golden Jubilee bronze medal commemorates the 50th anniversary of Thomas Edison's invention of the practical incandescent light bulb on October 21, 1879. The Golden Jubilee celebration, organized by Henry Ford and held at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan on October 21, 1929, was one of the grandest tributes ever paid to a living American. President Herbert Hoover, along with luminaries including John D. Rockefeller Jr., Orville Wright, and Madame Curie, attended the event where the eighty-two-year-old Edison reenacted his historic experiment. The bronze medal was produced as a commemorative souvenir of this landmark anniversary. The obverse features Edison's portrait or a depiction of the original light bulb, while the reverse carries jubilee inscriptions. Edison's invention of a commercially viable incandescent lamp — featuring a carbonized bamboo filament that burned for over 1,200 hours — had transformed human civilization by liberating work, recreation, and daily life from dependence on daylight and open flame. The timing of the Golden Jubilee was ironic — it took place just eight days before the stock market crash of October 29, 1929, which initiated the Great Depression. The celebration thus represents both the culmination of the optimistic, technology-worshipping spirit of the 1920s and the last great public gathering before that spirit was shattered by economic catastrophe. Edison himself lived only two more years, dying on October 18, 1931.

Rarity Notes

Light's Golden Jubilee medals were produced for the 1929 celebration. The event's prominence and Edison's fame ensured moderate production quantities. The historical timing — just before the 1929 crash — adds cultural significance.

Cross References

PCGS #800356; Light's Golden Jubilee 1879-1929; Thomas Edison