In 1969, the International Numismatic Agency of New York City issued a silver commemorative medal that honored two themes: OBVERSE - Mount Rushmore National Monument in Keystone, South Dakota and REVERSE - the White House in Washington, DC.
The high-relief medal is 41.3 mm (~1.63 inches) in diameter and has a weight of 176 grams (~5.7 troy ounces); it was struck in 0.999 fine silver.
The designs of the medal make for a somewhat odd pairing as the subjects are not directly linked and 1969 did not represent a milestone anniversary year for either. Each is a popular US landmark, however, and is often the subject of souvenir pieces. Their selection likely had marketing motives.
The International Numismatic Agency was not a mint, it was a private, commercial numismatic products company that marketed a variety of commemorative medals in silver and bronze, in high-relief and low-relief. The Medallic Art Company was a frequent production partner for its products, serving as the mint of record.
The medal was designed/sculpted by Spero Anargyros, a New York City-born artist-sculptor who studied at the Art Students League there. He spent time in Salt Lake City working on the Mormon Church monument and then moved to San Francisco where he spent the balance of his professional career. Anargyros was born in 1915 in NYC and died in a San Mateo, CA hospital (near San Francisco) in 2004, He was 89 years old.
(If his name is familiar, it could be from the 1959 Hawaii Statehood medal also struck by MACO. He was, however, responsible for many other medals and sculptures.)
For more on the subjects honored:
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1991 Mount Rushmore National Memorial 50th Anniversary-
1992 White House Bicentennial PNC
Posted 12/10/2023 2:54 pm
