From family of Douglas MacArthur scarce ORINGINAL ISSUE Congressional Medal

Rare : Douglas MacArthur Congressional Medal
" By Act of Congress, October 9, 1962"
ORIGINAL ISSUE 1962 GOLD-ON-BRONZE, 3" / 75mm
U.S. Mint,

Frank Gasparro, sculptor

1962, # 67 in the full size "list medal" series. (described by numismatists as "elusive" and "very hard to find".
Even fewer were made with gold finish).

Diameter : 3" (75 mm), original gilding
(A smaller size series of replicas was reissued in 2013)

Provenance : Estate of Douglas MacArthur II
thus presumably property of the family since issue in 1962

About the Sculptor:
Gasparro was hired by the United States Mint in December 1942 under Chief Engraver John R. Sinnock. Gasparro's first major successful coin design was his redesign of the reverse of the Lincoln cent as part of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, while he was Assistant Engraver at the Philadelphia Mint. Gasparro's design was selected from a group of 23 designs prepared by the Mint's engraving staff to replace the Wheat cent produced by the Mint from 1909 to 1958. Despite the complaints of his superiors, the design retained his initials to the right of the monument as well as the image of Lincoln seated in the monument, making it the first American coin to have the same likeness on both sides of the coin. Gasparro would often tell cashiers that he was a sculptor, and when asked where to find his work, he would reply, "It's in your pocket." By the time of his death, Gasparro's design had appeared on the more than 100 billion pennies produced by the Mint.

# 02211 .................................................................................................. $ 595