1868 United States Assay Commission Medal. By William Barber. JK AC-4. Rarity-5. Aluminum. MS-64 DPL (NGC).33 mm. Bright silver-gray surfaces offer bold contrast between reflective fields and satiny, smartly impressed design elements. The obverse design features Liberty standing and holding an olive branch amid trophies of war. The only other use of this obverse in the Assay Commission series is on the unique 1869 muling JK AC-7 in the ANS Collection. While the Julian-Keusch reference gives no indication of relative rarity for the copper and aluminum impressions of the 1868 AC-4, the latter were undoubtedly produced in (far) fewer numbers since aluminum was considered a precious metal at the time. Interestingly, our (Stacks) November 2008 sale of the Keusch Collection included two aluminum examples; the present specimen is only the second that we have offered since.From the Larry Baber Collection.
