No Date Medal Herbert Hoover Inauguration Medal

Coin Details

Auction Record

$1,020 Medal 05-30-2006 Goldberg Auctioneers

Description

This undated medal of Herbert Hoover is a standard U.S. Mint bronze presidential medal honoring the thirty-first President (1929-1933). This medal was designed by Henry K. Bush-Brown and struck at the U.S. Mint for an original price of $2.50. Hoover's presidency is inextricably linked to the Great Depression, which began with the stock market crash of October 1929, just seven months after his inauguration. Despite his extraordinary pre-presidential career and genuine efforts to combat the economic collapse, Hoover became the symbol of the Depression's devastation, with shantytowns of the homeless sardonically dubbed "Hoovervilles." Herbert Clark Hoover (1874-1964) was orphaned by age nine, worked his way through Stanford University as a member of its inaugural class, and became a fabulously wealthy mining engineer operating on five continents. During and after World War I, he organized relief efforts that fed millions of starving Europeans, earning the title "The Great Humanitarian." He served as Secretary of Commerce under Harding and Coolidge, transforming the department into a dynamic engine of economic modernization. Hoover's response to the Depression — the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, the Federal Home Loan Bank System, increased public works spending — was more interventionist than he is often credited with, but insufficient against the magnitude of the crisis. He lost the 1932 election to Franklin Roosevelt in a landslide. Hoover lived another thirty-one years, the longest post-presidency until Jimmy Carter, and was rehabilitated through his service on government reorganization commissions under Truman and Eisenhower. The undated bronze medal preserves Hoover's dignified features for collectors.

Rarity Notes

Standard U.S. Mint bronze presidential medal. Produced for ongoing public sale. Available in the numismatic market without difficulty.

Cross References

PCGS #413549