1932 Washington Birth Bicentennial Gold Medal SP63 PCGS Secure. Baker-900 Variety....

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1932 Washington Birth Bicentennial
Official U.S. Medal in Gold, SP63
Baker-900 Variety, Likely Unique

1932 Washington Birth Bicentennial Gold Medal SP63 PCGS Secure. Baker-900 Variety. Gold. 403 gm. 75 mm. Plain edge. Rulau-Fuld (1999) list Baker-900 in bronze, silver, and platinum, the latter unique as such. The gold variety is unlisted, and also likely unique. The sculptor was Laura Gardin Fraser, engraver of several commemorative varieties and wife of Buffalo nickel designer James Fraser. The Baker-900 varieties were official Washington Birth Bicentennial medals struck at the U.S. Mint, and the head-and-shoulders bust of Washington was later used for the 1946 U.S. Assay Medal (JK-AC-91). Only Baker-900C, a bronze 56 mm variety, was sold to the general public. Baker-900A, the bronze 75 mm variety, was distributed as awards in a national essay contest, as was the very rare silver Baker-900B variety. The unique platinum example, Baker-900, was presented to President Hoover.

This gold medal was presented by President Hoover on August 4, 1932 to the Betty Ann Troy, First Award winner in a national essay contest conducted by the U.S. Washington Bicentennial Commission. Troy was a sixteen-year-old student at the Sacred Heart Academy in Stamford, CT. This hefty caramel-gold piece has a matte finish and relatively few imperfections, such as a flat forehead on the standing Liberty, a small field dig beneath ALL, and a small nick on the reverse rim near 6 o'clock. Included with the lot is the original holder, which has a working latch, a navy-blue exterior, a deep blue velvet interior with a slot for the medal, and a cream-white frontispiece with an eight-line inscription in gold letters. Troy's essay was published on page 27 of the Google Books reference Orations and Essays of the George Washington Bicentennial Nationwide Oratorical, Essay, and Declamatory Contests in Schools and Colleges.

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