1921 Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge Inaugural Medal. Dusterberg HIM-B70, MacNeil WGH-1921-3. Bronze. Specimen-62 (PCGS).

70 mm. A gorgeous example with glossy surfaces and original patina throughout. Dominant golden-brown color gives ways to faded mint rose around and within Harding's portrait. Direct lighting also calls forth vivid cobalt blue undertones, especially on the obverse. The strike is impressively sharp and perfectly centered. File marks at the rim are as-issued, the surfaces far smoother in hand than one might expect at the assigned grade level. This piece is a significant rarity among United States medals and is certainly the holy grail of the Presidential Inaugural series. The Republican victory over Democratic contenders James M. Cox and Franklin Delano Roosevelt in November 1920 was to have been celebrated with "the most dazzling celebration in the memory of the present generation." This event was to be directed by Washington Post publisher Edward "Ned" McLean and his heiress spouse Evalyn. Campaign denunciations of Woodrow Wilson's supposed governmental extravagance, surviving asceticism from the First World War and the sudden lurch of the nation's economy into a vicious post-war Depression derailed the planned extravaganza. Nevertheless, the McCleans offered their own lavish private hospitality, which extended to the striking of this Inaugural medal in very small quantities by R. Harris & Co. of Washington. While not as famous as the 1905 Roosevelt Inaugural medal by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, the medals of Warren G. Harding's 1921 inauguration are exponentially more rare and each appearance is a significant numismatic event. Fewer than 60 are thought to survive in bronze and most are held tightly in private collections. We have not handled a bronze example since our March 2011 Baltimore sale, which specimen brought $17,250. More recently a silver example realized $31,200 in our November 2019 Baltimore Auction. The present bronze striking is sure to sell for a similarly strong price.