(2014) First Spouse Bronze Medal - Florence Harding

Coin Details

Description

The Florence Harding bronze medal honors a First Lady who was one of the most politically active and ambitious women to hold the role in the early twentieth century. Florence Mabel Kling Harding, known as "the Duchess," was a divorced mother with a fierce independent streak who married Warren G. Harding in 1891 and took over the business management of his struggling Marion, Ohio newspaper, turning it into a profitable enterprise. The obverse, designed by Barbara Fox and sculpted by Michael Gaudioso, portrays a woman whose business acumen and political instincts were central to her husband's rise from small-town newspaper publisher to president. Florence Harding was the first presidential spouse to vote for her own husband, casting her ballot in the 1920 election after the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. The reverse, designed by Barbara Fox and sculpted by Joseph Menna, references her active role in the 1920 campaign, where she managed press relations from the front porch of their Marion home. As First Lady, she opened the White House to the public, hosted garden parties for disabled veterans, and cultivated relationships with the Washington press corps. After Warren Harding's sudden death in August 1923, she systematically destroyed many of his papers, an act that has fueled historical speculation ever since. Struck in bronze at 1-5/16 inches.

Rarity Notes

Produced at the Philadelphia Mint during 2014 without a fixed mintage limit. Available on the secondary market at standard series pricing.

Cross References

PCGS #524815; companion to First Spouse Gold $10