Who struck the 1875 Battle of Lexington Centennial, HK-18, in white metal?

Zoins

The Battle of Lexington Centennial So-Called Dollar (SCD) was issued in 4 metals including gold, silver and bronze struck by the US Mint along with white metal which was struck outside the mint. It's interesting that while the medals were struck by the US Mint, the dies were made by Henry Mitchell of Boston using a design by Rev. Edward Griffin Porter of Lexington. Henry Mitchell was a die sinker, gem engraver and, according to this post, "made all the dies for the stamped envelopes of the United States for a great many years."

Some questions about this:

• Do we know who struck the white metal pieces? Were they done by Henry Mitchell?
• Are there estimates of how many white metal pieces were struck, holed and unholed?
• Do these dies still exist?
• This is also the first I've come across the US Mint using dies made by others. How often was this done?

Here some info from So-CalledDollars.com:

• HK-16 Silver. Proof. 38mm. Julian CM-24. 100 struck. Sold for $3.00.
• HK-17 Bronze. Proof. Julian CM-24. 200 struck. Sold for $1.00.
• HK-18 White Metal. Proof. Struck outside of US Mint. Sold for $1.50 unpierced, 50 cents pierced
• HK-1004 Gold. Julian CM-24. Proof. 4 struck. Sold for $30.00.

denga

@Zoins said:
The Battle of Lexington Centennial So-Called Dollar (SCD) was issued in 4 metals including gold, silver and bronze struck by the US Mint along with white metal which was struck outside the mint. It's interesting that while the medals were struck by the US Mint, the dies were made by Henry Mitchell of Boston using a design by Rev. Edward Griffin Porter of Lexington. Henry Mitchell was a die sinker, gem engraver and, according to this post, "made all the dies for the stamped envelopes of the United States for a great many years."

Some questions about this:

• Do we know who struck the white metal pieces? Were they done by Henry Mitchell?
• Are there estimates of how many white metal pieces were struck, holed and unholed?
• Do these dies still exist?

• This is also the first I've come across the US Mint using dies made by others. How often was this done?

• HK-1004 Gold. Julian CM-24. Proof. 4 struck. Sold for $30.00.

The white metal pieces were probably done by Peter Krider, whose Philadelphia
firm handled orders for medals using metals not used by the Mint. I have not seen
any estimates for the number of white metal pieces. The dies might still exist in the
Lexington city archives or a local museum.

It was quite common for outside artists, especially after 1873, to prepare dies that
were used by the Mint. Mitchell, for example, did quite a few. Even Christian Gobrecht
did several private medal dies before he became an engraver at the Mint.

Zoins

@denga said:

@Zoins said:
The Battle of Lexington Centennial So-Called Dollar (SCD) was issued in 4 metals including gold, silver and bronze struck by the US Mint along with white metal which was struck outside the mint. It's interesting that while the medals were struck by the US Mint, the dies were made by Henry Mitchell of Boston using a design by Rev. Edward Griffin Porter of Lexington. Henry Mitchell was a die sinker, gem engraver and, according to this post, "made all the dies for the stamped envelopes of the United States for a great many years."

Some questions about this:

• Do we know who struck the white metal pieces? Were they done by Henry Mitchell?
• Are there estimates of how many white metal pieces were struck, holed and unholed?
• Do these dies still exist?

• This is also the first I've come across the US Mint using dies made by others. How often was this done?

• HK-1004 Gold. Julian CM-24. Proof. 4 struck. Sold for $30.00.

The white metal pieces were probably done by Peter Krider, whose Philadelphia
firm handled orders for medals using metals not used by the Mint. I have not seen
any estimates for the number of white metal pieces. The dies might still exist in the
Lexington city archives or a local museum.

It was quite common for outside artists, especially after 1873, to prepare dies that
were used by the Mint. Mitchell, for example, did quite a few. Even Christian Gobrecht
did several private medal dies before he became an engraver at the Mint.

Great info @denga. Good to know Peter Krider handled Mint orders in alternate medals.

Does the Mint still take outside commissions for striking medals? My thought would be "no" but I haven't heard/read know that definitively.

denga

@Zoins said:
Does the Mint still take outside commissions for striking medals? My thought would be "no" but I haven't heard/read know that definitively.

The Mint stopped striking private medals, such as school awards, in 1948. It may
be that semi-official medals (such as a city centennial) were struck after that date.