United States Assay Commission medals are a popular collectible and mementos of a tradition that spanned from 1797 to 1977. The Assay Commission’s role was to provide a check on the purity of gold and silver coins struck at the Philadelphia Mint and the participants in later years included many of the top numismatists of the day. The commission was eliminated as a cost-cutting measure by President Carter in 1976, but the medals remain to document the commission and often serve as beautiful examples of medallic art. 

Here is one of three Assay Commission medals we're profiling in this week's Market Analysis:

The medal:

1967 Assay Commission medal, Mint State 66

The price:

$1,821.25

The story:

1977 marked the final year that Assay Commission medals were produced, and in 1980 the commission was disbanded. In its final decades, the duties of the commission were considered redundant, since other federal entities were responsible for assaying U.S. coinage.

The obverse of the 1967 Assay Commission medal by Frank Gasparro depicts Mint Director Eva Adams with a mining scene in the background. Michael Iacocca’s reverse depicts the fourth U.S. Mint, which was under construction in Philadelphia at the time. This bronze medal, graded MS-66 by NGC, sold for $1,821.25.

Former members formed the Old Time Assay Commissioners Society, which would produce medals of its own. The group had its final meeting in 2012 in conjunction with the American Numismatic Association’s convention in Philadelphia.

Keep reading this Market Analysis:

Assay Commission medal with Libertas Americana design series' most popular

Theodore Roosevelt's 'Renaissance' includes Assay Commission medal

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