1896 Bryan Money Bullion Value Schornstein SCH-852 White Metal

An 1896 satirical Free Silver piece, cataloged as Schornstein SCH-852 and Zerbe 118, and a large one at about 63 mm. A crude Liberty head sits beneath BULLION VALUE with the date below. The reverse reads SIXTEEN TO ONE, WE DON'T THINK, aimed squarely at William Jennings Bryan's proposal to coin silver against gold at that ratio. The crudeness is the argument. Sound money men answered Bryan by making pieces that were deliberately oversized and deliberately ugly, so that the size of the thing in your hand did the talking about how much silver a dollar would really have to hold. This is one of the more imposing of them. Circulated, with original gray surfaces and the softness to parts of the design that these castings normally show.