No Date Medal Customhouse Yorktown Bronze 1 5/16"

Coin Details

Description

This undated bronze medal depicts the U.S. Customhouse in Yorktown, Virginia, one of the oldest federal customs facilities in the United States and a building steeped in American history. The Yorktown Customhouse date to the colonial era, predating American independence, and its continued use as a federal facility after the Revolution connected the new republic to the commercial infrastructure of the colonial period. Yorktown's fame as the site of the decisive 1781 siege that ended the Revolutionary War gives its customhouse additional historical significance. The obverse features an architectural rendering of the Yorktown Customhouse, a relatively modest structure compared to the grand customhouses of major port cities, but one whose age and historical associations make it among the most historically significant buildings in the facility medal series. The building's colonial-era architecture reflects the pre-industrial scale of American commerce, when Yorktown served as a tobacco port and trading center on the York River. The customhouse survived the 1781 siege and continued to serve federal purposes well into the modern era. The reverse carries standard U.S. Mint facility medal inscriptions in the 1 5/16 inch format. The Yorktown Customhouse medal is notable among the facility series for depicting one of the few surviving colonial-era federal buildings, connecting the medal to the very origins of American governmental architecture and customs administration. The building has been preserved as a historic site, serving as a tangible link to both colonial commerce and the Revolutionary War.

Rarity Notes

Undated bronze facility medal, 1 5/16 inch (33mm). Standard U.S. Mint souvenir series. The Yorktown Customhouse is one of the oldest buildings depicted in the facility medal program.

Cross References

PCGS #113047; U.S. Mint facility medal series; Yorktown, VA Customhouse