1961 Assay Commission Medal - JK-AC-105, Bronze, Thomas Jefferson

Coin Details

Auction Record

$3,840 MS69 03-25-2020 Stack's Bowers

Description

The 1961 Assay Commission medal in bronze, cataloged as JK-AC-105, features Thomas Jefferson on the obverse. The choice of Jefferson for the 1961 medal honored the author of the Declaration of Independence and the third president, whose influence on American coinage extended to his advocacy for a decimal monetary system and his service as the first Secretary of State overseeing early Mint operations. Jefferson's face was already familiar on the circulating nickel five-cent piece, where it had appeared since 1938. The 1961 commission was the first to convene under the Kennedy administration, though the medal's Jefferson theme connected the proceedings to the founding generation rather than contemporary politics. Jefferson's advocacy for a rational, accessible monetary system made him an especially appropriate subject for the commission charged with verifying the integrity of that system's physical products.

Rarity Notes

JK-AC-105, bronze composition. Features Thomas Jefferson. Standard commission distribution. First Kennedy administration Assay Commission.

Cross References

PCGS #972700; JK-AC-105; Thomas Jefferson; 1961 Assay Commission