103752 | UNITED STATES. Satirical cast type metal "Bryan Dime."

103752  |  UNITED STATES. Satirical cast type metal "Bryan Dime." Issued 1896 as a campaign commentary on the McKinley–Bryan presidential race (50mm, 12h). By I. F. Repp in Fostoria, Ohio.

 

VOTE FOR / A 100¢ / DOLLAR / AND / McKINLEY in five lines // FREE SILVER / ONE / DIME / 1896 in four lines.

 

Schornstein 314 (scarce); Zerbe 27; Kagan (ANS 2020.3), p. 39, fig. 21 = ANS 0000.999.41852. NGC MS-64. Steely gray and quite brilliant and dazzling, with a few scattered spots, but overall a great appearance for the metal type. The finer of just two observed for the type in the NGC census, and far superior to the one observed at PCGS (an AU-53). As such, likely among the finest for the type that one will ever encounter.

 

The debate between the gold standard and the free and unlimited coinage of silver played out in large part during the 1896 presidential campaigns of William McKinley, the Republican, and William Jennings Bryan, the Democrat. Known for his famous "Cross of Gold" speech, Bryan was mocked and derided for his stance on bimetallism by those in Republican and business circles. As such, a number of campaign items were produced during the campaign expressing this derision, with many poking fun at bimetallism's feasibility through oversized "silver" dollars and other denominations, such as dimes like the example here. For more information on this fascinating period and its numismatic connection, check out The Cross of Gold: William Jennings Bryan, Bimetallism, and Gilded Age Economic Equality, by Helena Kagan in ANS, vol. 19, no. 3, 2020, pp. 28-41.

 

Upload: 5 November 2026.