Eagerly Sought 1942 Assay Commission Medal

1942 United States Assay Commission Medal. Bronze. 58 mm. By John R. Sinnock and Pierre Simon DuVivier. JK AC-87a, Baker E-348. Rarity-6. Edge Incuse RALPH W. SMITH. MS-66 (NGC).

An exceptionally well preserved and aesthetically pleasing representative of this rare and popular Assay Commission medal. Overall smooth surfaces exhibit dominant antique golden-brown patina. This type combines an obverse design by John R. Sinnock (reduced from Roosevelt's second presidential medal) with a reverse design based on Pierre Simon DuVivier's famous Washington Before Boston Comitia Americana medal -- an artful combination of two existing design elements during wartime emergency conditions in the United States Mint. Only 18 bronze examples were delivered on February 10, 1942, the Mint having received the order five days earlier. The present example was originally distributed to Ralph W. Smith of the Bureau of Standards and a member of the 1942 Assay Commission.

From the Richard Jewell Collection. Earlier from our Baltimore Auction of March 2016, lot 12050.