1921 Warren G. Harding U.S. Mint Medal. Yellow Bronze. 76 mm. Failor-Hayden Unlisted. Extremely Fine.This is not the rare official inaugural medal, but rather the seldom-seen original version from the long-running Mint Presidential series. Hardings death during the third year of his presidency necessitated a new reverse being made to note his date of death. The new reverse, featuring a mourning female figure, remained the standard reverse of this medal for the 60+ additional years it was made. That revised mint medal is assigned the Failor-Hayden catalog number 128. This medal was not included in that listing because Failor-Hayden listed only the medals then (1969) currently produced and available for sale at the Mint. This example shows only light wear, but the finish of the obverse suffers from extensive finish degradation -- a condition quite common on Mint medals struck in this fabric. The finish on the reverse, which is the side that makes this medal special, is essentially unaffected.
