1869 United States Assay Commission Medal. Aluminum. 33 mm. By William Barber. JK AC-6c. Rarity-6. With Stars. MS-65 PL (NGC). Attractive silver gray surfaces are well mirrored in the fields, and the design elements are set apart with a softly frosted texture. Otherwise sharply struck, the detail is blunt on the shield on the obverse and at the lower left wreath on the reverse.This is the aluminum counterpart to the silver JK AC-6 offered above and it, too, displays the prominent obverse die break from the border to star 5. Silver impressions of the 1869 AC-5 With Stars are the medals that were actually distributed to the commissioners in 1869, while aluminum strikings of both types were prepared in small numbers expressly for distribution to contemporary collectors. Our (Stacks) November 2008 sale of the Keusch Collection lacked this type in aluminum, and the only other specimen we have handled in recent years is the medal from the Collection of Charles E. Barber, chief engraver of the United States, that sold as lot 4834 in our (Stacks) January 2010 New York Americana Sale. Rare. From the Richard Jewell Collection. Earlier from Heritages Long Beach Signature Auction of September 2006, lot 6570. Lot tag included.
