The reverse presents the English version of the obverse inscription: “BY PUBLIC ACCLAIM FOR A DEED DONE IN PRIVATE”. Below this, “SANDS POINT AUGUST 26 1933” specifies the location as the Sands Point country club and the date as 26 August AD 1933. At the base lies the maker’s mark “MEDALLIC ART CO. NEW YORK”, indicating that it was struck by the Medallic Art Company of New York, a highly prestigious firm in the United States at the time. The edge is plain with visible filing marks.
Huey Long was one of the most controversial and flamboyant political personalities in the United States during the AD 1930s. Born in a impoverished rural community in Louisiana, he entered politics posing as a “champion of the common people” after gaining admission to the bar through self-directed study. During his political rise, his fierce denunciations of major corporations and oil magnates—who then held political and economic sway over Louisiana—garnered enthusiastic support among lower-class farmers and workers.
In AD 1928, Long was elected Governor of Louisiana. Upon taking office, he launched extensive public works programmes, rapidly consolidating his local political base through policies such as constructing roads and bridges, improving public schools, and providing free textbooks. Nevertheless, his unprincipled methods for achieving his objectives led detractors to accuse him of constructing an autocratic political machine. In AD 1930, he was elected to the United States Senate; however, to maintain control over state governance, he deferred his swearing-in until AD 1932, formally proceeding to Washington only after confirming that his designated successor had assumed the governorship.
Between AD 1932 and early AD 1933, as the Great Depression swept across the nation, Long proposed his famous “Share Our Wealth” program in Congress. He advocated heavy progressive taxation and capital levies on the wealthy to redistribute funds to ordinary households, thereby guaranteeing a minimum income and basic livelihood for every family. This radical, highly populist proposal rapidly gained national traction, earning him vast renown and influence across the country. However, his increasingly provocative rhetoric, extreme egocentrism, and domineering style provoked intense hostility not only from wealthy industrialists and mainstream politicians but also within Congress and the press.
By late summer AD 1933, Long’s national influence had reached an unprecedented peak, leading many to view him as a formidable potential contender against President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Yet his indiscretion and arrogance in his private life gradually made him a target for political adversaries. On 26 August, Long appeared at a country club in Sands Point, where his presence was likely unwelcomed given the numerous enemies he had made within country club circles through his rhetoric. That evening, following his habitual heavy drinking, Long visited the men’s lavatory, only to find all facilities occupied. He reportedly urinated on the shoes and trouser legs of a man standing beside him. Annoyed by this act, the unidentified man struck Long in the face, leaving him with a black eye that featured prominently in the anti-Long press for some time. Collier, the proprietor of Collier’s magazine, was so delighted by the incident that he initiated a fundraising campaign to award a gold medal to Long’s assailant. As the assailant never stepped forward to claim the award, Collier donated the medal to the American Numismatic Society. Beyond the gold medal, the Medallic Art Company also struck a small number of silver medals and a larger quantity of bronze medals. The galvano pattern of the medal subsequently hung in the men’s lavatory of the Medallic Art Company’s plant for many years.
This episode reflected the profound disgust harboured against him by the opposition. Nevertheless, Long remained active between Washington and Louisiana, establishing “Share Our Wealth” societies across the nation. Ultimately, in AD 1935, his life came to an end when he was assassinated inside the Louisiana State Capitol.
背面則為正面銘文的英文版「BY PUBLIC ACCLAIM FOR A DEED DONE IN PRIVATE」（因在私下完成的善舉而獲得公眾喝彩）。其下「SANDS POINT AUGUST 26 1933」則註明了事件地點為鄉村俱樂部「Sands Point」，而日期為公元1933年8月26日。底部則有製造商印記「MEDALLIC ART CO. NEW YORK」，即由當時美國頗負盛名的紐約獎章藝術公司鑄造。側面平素而有磨銼痕。
