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16 to 1 Oversized Bryan Dollar (Schornstein 805)

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / Exonumia Start Price:50.00 USD Estimated At:100.00 - 200.00 USD
16 to 1 Oversized Bryan Dollar (Schornstein 805)
SOLD
60.00USD+ (14.40) buyer's premium + applicable fees & taxes.
This item SOLD at 2017 Oct 21 @ 10:10UTC-7 : PDT/MST
SHIPPING & HANDLING: Shipping and Handling cannot be estimated prior to invoicing, based on the size and weight of your purchase. All shipping is subject to a minimum charge of $19.00. If additional shipping and handling costs are required, the buyer will be reinvoiced for the balance due. Items are not shipped until the invoice is completely paid. Many buyers purchase a number of lots. Every effort will be made to include all lots in a single shipping charge calculated to cover the weight
Bronze medal 3 1/4" in diameter. Obv.: Liberty head / 1896; rev.: United States of America / 16 to 1 / N I T. S-805. Holed. Bryan's Republican opponent, William McKinley, was endorsed by those who favored a single-metal, gold standard. They pointed out that if the Free Silver proposal were literally implemented, a coin containing a dollar's worth of silver would be "as big as a stove lid!" Hence, the size of this satirical piece, and 16 to 1 on the reverse. The letters NIT stand for "Not in Trust." City: State: Date: 1896 HWAC# 51852

Bryan Money

The presidential election of 1896 was perhaps the last “single issue” campaign in American history. By 1900, the Spanish American War had complicated the nation’s priorities and by 1908, World War I and America’s international power made the political stage much more complicated. William Jennings Bryan ran for President and lost all three elections.

The single political issue in 1896 was “free coinage of silver to gold at a 16 to 1 ratio.” The eastern bankers wanted to retain the gold standard, while Bryan represented the western miners and farmers that wanted a bimetallic currency of silver and gold. Newspapers carried speeches and cartoons but without television or radio, medals and coinage and pinbacks advertised a man’s position on the issue. Some of the satirical medals resembled United States coinage, so the Secret Service became involved in the issue.

In 1926, Farran Zerbe penned an article in the Numismatist “Bryan Money.” Hibler and Kappen listed 10 pieces of Bryan Money in “So-Called Dollars,” in 1963. Fred Schornstein’s “Bryan Money” (2001) listed over 300 pieces and 20 newspaper cartoons from the era.

This consignment is a great opportunity to start or add to your collection from a crucial election in American History.