A 1916 Gold Coin Honoring McKinley, Our Nation’s 25th President

President William McKinley, the 25th president of our nation, has been in the news recently. History buffs will recall that McKinley was president from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. He is known for leading America during a period of expansionism, which included the Spanish-American War, the annexation of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines and Hawaii.

Recently, President Donald Trump has bestowed fresh honors upon McKinley.

President Trump signed an executive order to rename North America’s tallest peak, known as Denali in Alaska, after President William McKinley. The U.S. had originally named it Mount McKinley in 1917, which followed centuries of Indigenous groups calling it Denali, which means “the tall one” in the language of the Athabascan people. In 2015, the Obama administration formally recognized the mountain as Denali.

Beyond mountain names, President Trump has praised McKinley’s use of tariffs during his time in office. President Trump has already initiated a series of tariffs on several nations and says there will be more to come.

As our current president shines a fresh light on President McKinley’s tenure and accomplishments, a new rare coin offering has emerged, that is prized by numismatic collectors: the 1916 McKinley $1 gold coin.

The sale of the McKinley gold dollars helped pay for a memorial building for the fallen president at Niles, Ohio, which is featured on the commemorative gold coin’s reverse. The Memorial building design was created by George T. Morgan. The obverse of this handsome coin features a profile of McKinley facing left, and was designed by Charles E Barber.

These commemorative gold coins were minted in 1916 and 1917, with a total of 20,000 coins produced over that two year period.

Commemorative coins have a rich history and have been created for centuries. Popularized by the ancient Greeks and Romans, these coins record and honor important events. Today, commemorative coins are prized by collectors who typically seek to acquire and own by major types or in sets with mintmark varieties.

This offering reveals an opportunity for a collector to own not only a significant piece of history honoring a president with numerous accomplishments, but a president from our past with fresh ties to the present. See it here.