So-Called Dollar Discussions
HK-1001 Jubilee Medal of the 50th Anniversary of America in 1826
Quote from Pioneer on October 11, 2026, 3:24 pmThere is an interesting article about the 1826 US Semicentennial (50th Anniversary) Exposition of the United States in the October 2026 Numismatist. Apparently, most of the early US medals before 1826 were made in countries like England and France, many celebrating George Washington (see Neil Musante's book on Washingtonia).
The 1826 50th Anniversary of America yielded a "Jubilee Medal" ... found in White metal, Copper, and brass-joined shells (HK-1001). The article proposes that the medals were engraved by the New York die-sinker Casper Reinhold, active between 1826 and 1834. Advertisements for the medal reference and hardware and metal-good business located in the New York Bowery district. A Reinholt brass foundry made items that were sold at a hardware dealer located at 291 Bowery. Reinhold’s studio on Pell Street, just off Bowery, was not much further away. The presence of the foundry making items for the hardware store and Reinhold’s nearby studio suggests the medals were produced at the foundry and sold through the hardware business.
The unique HK-1001 (joined brass shells in the attached picture from the Presidential Coin and Antique Auctions catalog ? 2016) is the only known remaining medal that appears to have been stamped into the brass shells and joined, a legacy to the newly discovered information in the Numismatist article. A half of a brass shell, in the Ford Collection, was incorrectly identified as a brockage strike. In practice, the foundry would have routinely made decorative shells for the hardware market (for use on furniture for example), so we assume the known shells are original products.
Of the white metal and copper "Jubilee" medals, most are found holed, as they were to be suspended from ribbons as was common at the time. The date 1826 was removed from up to 25 percent of the white-metal pieces, hinting the medal was probably also sold well after the Jubilee celebrations. Some silver medals appear to have been struck on unidentified coins
There is an interesting article about the 1826 US Semicentennial (50th Anniversary) Exposition of the United States in the October 2026 Numismatist. Apparently, most of the early US medals before 1826 were made in countries like England and France, many celebrating George Washington (see Neil Musante's book on Washingtonia).
The 1826 50th Anniversary of America yielded a "Jubilee Medal" ... found in White metal, Copper, and brass-joined shells (HK-1001). The article proposes that the medals were engraved by the New York die-sinker Casper Reinhold, active between 1826 and 1834. Advertisements for the medal reference and hardware and metal-good business located in the New York Bowery district. A Reinholt brass foundry made items that were sold at a hardware dealer located at 291 Bowery. Reinhold’s studio on Pell Street, just off Bowery, was not much further away. The presence of the foundry making items for the hardware store and Reinhold’s nearby studio suggests the medals were produced at the foundry and sold through the hardware business.
The unique HK-1001 (joined brass shells in the attached picture from the Presidential Coin and Antique Auctions catalog ? 2016) is the only known remaining medal that appears to have been stamped into the brass shells and joined, a legacy to the newly discovered information in the Numismatist article. A half of a brass shell, in the Ford Collection, was incorrectly identified as a brockage strike. In practice, the foundry would have routinely made decorative shells for the hardware market (for use on furniture for example), so we assume the known shells are original products.
Of the white metal and copper "Jubilee" medals, most are found holed, as they were to be suspended from ribbons as was common at the time. The date 1826 was removed from up to 25 percent of the white-metal pieces, hinting the medal was probably also sold well after the Jubilee celebrations. Some silver medals appear to have been struck on unidentified coins
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