Owner Comments:
1945 UNITED STATES ASSAY COMMISSION MEDAL
JK-AC-90
Composition: Bronze
Diameter: 76 mm
Designer: Augustin Dupre
Obverse Engraver: John R. Sinnock
Reverse Engraver: William Barber
Edge Incuse: HON. NELLIE TAYLOE ROSS
Rarity: R-7
Pedigree: HON. NELLIE TAYLOE ROSS (Director of the U.S. Mint)
OBVERSE DESIGN
The obverse was prepared by John R. Sinnock using the head from the famous Libertas american medal engraved for Benjamin Franklin by Augustin Dupre in Paris shortly after 1783. It symbolized the victory of the colonists over Great Britain in the revolutionary War. Here it may be taken as an omen of victory in WWll. The obverse features a liberty head with flowing hair. Behind her head is a liberty cap on a pole. Inscriptions are "ANNUAL ASSAY COMMISSION UNITED STATES MINT PHILADELPHIA" around the head of liberty and "1945" below.
REVERSE DESIGN
The reverse design features the Great Seal of the United States. The central design feature is an American Eagle with out-stretched wings. Above the Eagle is a sunburst with 13 stars. In the eagle's beak is a scroll with the inscription "EPLURIBUS UNUM". An American Shield is over the Eaglr's chest. The Eagle is holding an olive branch in her right talon and a bundle of arrows in her left. Inscriptions are: "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ". This design was origionally engraved by Augustin Dupre in Paris for the United States Diplomatic Medal ordered by President Thomas Jefferson. The reverse is from the copy die (CM-15) of the Diplomatic Medal prepared by William Barber in 1876. Lead proofs had been obtained by Professor Jules Marcon in Paris from the son of Dupre and were loaned to the Mint in 1876 as a guide for the new dies.
NELLIE TAYLOE ROSS (November 29, 1876 – December 19, 1977) was the first woman to serve as governor of a U.S. state, and the first female director of the United States Mint. She was the governor of Wyoming from 1925 to 1927. and served as the 28th the Director of the United States Mint from 1933 to 1953. Nellie Tayloe Ross was the Chairman of the 1945 United States Assay Commission. She also served as the Chairman of the 1935, 1936, 1940, and 1944 Assay Comissions and was an Ex-Officio member of the 1934, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, and 1953 Assay Commissions.
This Visually Stunning 1945 Assay Commission Medal has golden-bronze patina blankets and is exceptionally well preserved and aesthetically pleasing surfaces.
The 1945 is certainly one of the most attractive and eagerly sought entries in the Assay Commission series. The obverse features the classic portrait from the Libertas Americana medal engraved by Augustin Dupre in Paris during the 1780s at the request of Benjamin Franklin. The reverse design is an adaptation of Dupre's Diplomatic medal, also prepared in Paris, although in that case by order of Thomas Jefferson. An elusive issue, an example of JK AC-90 was not included in Stack's November 2008 sale of the fabulous Ernest E. Keusch Collection of United States Assay Medals.
Provenance: Stack's Bowers Baltimore Auction of March 2016, lot 12052.
Purchased in Stack's Bowers Spring 2023 Auction - Session 2 - Numismatic Americana & Early American Coins - Lot #2179.
NGC Population: 1/0 (3/21/2023)
Single finest graded at NGC