(2009) First Spouse Bronze Medal - Anna Harrison

Coin Details

Description

The Anna Harrison bronze medal honors a First Lady who holds the distinction of being the first to have received a formal education, attending the Clinton Academy and the Isabella Graham Boarding School in New York City. Anna Tuthill Symmes Harrison married William Henry Harrison in 1795 against her father's wishes, and the couple eventually had ten children. The obverse portrait, designed by Donna Weaver and sculpted by Charles Vickers, presents a woman who endured extraordinary hardship on the frontier, managing the family estate at North Bend, Ohio while her husband pursued military and political careers. When William Henry Harrison won the presidency in 1840, Anna was too ill to travel to Washington for the inauguration. She planned to join him in the spring, but he died of pneumonia on April 4, 1841, just thirty-one days into his term, before she ever set foot in the White House. The reverse design, by Thomas Cleveland and sculpted by Jim Licaretz, references her life in the Ohio frontier settlement. Her grandson Benjamin Harrison would later become the twenty-third president, making Anna Harrison the only woman to be both the wife and grandmother of presidents. The medal is struck in bronze at 1-5/16 inches.

Rarity Notes

Produced at the Philadelphia Mint during 2009 with open mintage. Available on the secondary market without significant premium.

Cross References

PCGS #409010; companion to First Spouse Gold $10