No Date Medal Chester A. Arthur

Coin Details

Description

This undated medal of Chester A. Arthur is a standard U.S. Mint bronze presidential medal honoring the twenty-first President (1881-1885). Arthur's presidency represented one of the most unexpected transformations in American political history. A product of the New York Republican political machine who had served as Collector of the Port of New York — a position synonymous with patronage and political corruption — Arthur assumed the presidency after Garfield's assassination and proceeded to champion the very civil service reforms that would dismantle the system from which he had benefited. Arthur (1829-1886) signed the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act in 1883, establishing competitive examinations for federal positions and creating the Civil Service Commission. He also modernized the United States Navy, beginning the transition from wooden sailing ships to steel-hulled steamships that would eventually produce the Great White Fleet. His veto of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1882, denouncing it as wasteful pork-barrel spending, demonstrated fiscal independence. Arthur's personal elegance was legendary — he owned eighty pairs of trousers, changed clothes multiple times daily, and employed a valet. He redecorated the White House with Louis Comfort Tiffany, selling off twenty-four wagonloads of old furnishings including items dating to John Adams's administration. The undated bronze medal captures Arthur's well-groomed appearance in the standard format produced by the Mint for continuous public sale.

Rarity Notes

Standard U.S. Mint bronze presidential medal. Produced for ongoing public sale without a fixed mintage cap. Available in the numismatic market.

Cross References

PCGS #413555