Owner Comments:
1920 Assay Commission Medal. Bronze. 51 mm. By George T. Morgan. JK AC-64. Rarity-5. MS-66 (NGC).
An outstanding example of the type, finer than the specimen offered as lot 5313 in Stack's November 2008 sale of the Ernest E. Keusch Collection of United States Assay Medals, 1860-1977. Antique golden-bronze patina adorns surfaces that are smooth and satiny. Fully deserving of the premium Gem grade from NGC.
The 1920 Assay Commission medal features the same obverse as the 1919 medal, but the reverse shows armored Liberty seated with sword reversed, holding an olive branch. With the reverse inscriptions VICTORY and PEACE, the 1920 Assay Commission medal is the series' equivalent of the Peace silver dollar of 1921 to 1935, which was also produced in commemoration of the return of peace after the end of World War I. Thirty bronze examples of this medal were produced on February 17, 1920, but so popular was the reverse design among contemporary Americans that the Mint struck an additional 40 or 50 pieces later in the year.
By far the finer of the two examples of the type currently (4/1/2016) certified by NGC (the other example is an MS-62).
NGC Population: 1/0
PCGS Population: 0/0
Combined NGC/PCGS Population: 1/0
SINGLE FINEST CERTIFIED EXAMPLE OF JK-AC-64