Rarely Offered 1948 Assay Commission Medal

1948 United States Assay Commission Medal. Bronze. 56 mm. By John R. Sinnock and Frank Gasparro. JK AC-93a. Rarity-7. MS-65 (NGC).

The standard Mint tannish-gold patina is somewhat uneven on the obverse, more uniform on the reverse. Both sides are smooth and the fine grain sandblast finish is readily appreciable with the aid of a loupe. The 1948 Assay Commission met in the same year that a hard fought presidential election saw Harry S. Truman triumph over Thomas Dewey against all predictions. JK AC-93 is one of the rarest medals in this series, and it was missing from such landmark collections as Dreyfuss and Leidman. We have only handled two specimens in the last dozen or so years, the present example -- ex Keusch -- and another Gem that appeared as lot 12053 in our March 2016 Baltimore Auction. Clearly this is a highly significant offering for specialists. Also included in this lot is an undated (circa 1948?) Harry S. Truman medal, golden bronze, 33 mm, Mint State, struck from reductions of the obverse design of JK AC-93, reverse design of JK AC-79. (Total: 2 medals)

From the Richard Jewell Collection. AC-93a is from our (Bowers and Merena's) sale of the Rogers M. Fred, Jr. Collection, November 1995, lot 1141; our (Stack's) sale of the Ernest E. Keusch Collection of United States Assay Medals, 1860-1977, November 2008, lot 5340. Lot tags included.