All Medals

This medal's obverse bears modernized head of Arethusa, wearing winged and eagle-headed helmet with motto I WILL, facing left. Around, C · C · C · 50TH · ANNIVERSARY - 1919 1969; signed under truncation, © T · A · ROVELSTAD · 1968

The reverse bears the six Winter Hexagon stars and Betelgeuse in the middle. Around edge, CHICAGO · COIN · CLUB / DOCENDO DISCIMUS; inside stars, conjoined CCC logo surrounded by ORGANIZED 1919 · / INCORPORATED 1938; signed with (TR monogram)

The 50th anniversary of the Chicago Coin Club was celebrated January 8, 1969 with a banquet at Harding's Restaurant. The 77 in attendance had only one regret - that the bad weather kept many away. Trygve Rovelstad had been asked to create the corresponding anniversary medal and picked the head of his proposed Arethusa statue for the design. The medal's reverse was designed to be usable for future Club medals. Apparently, a quantity of nickel-silver and silver uniface medals were struck to have a cache of engravable medals on hand.

This is a very handsome medal and definitely one of the nicest Coin Club issues of modern times. Too many coin clubs issue medals with relatively boring busts of club presidents whereas this design is truly worthy of being immortalized on a medal.

The circular medal measures 57mm in diameter and was struck in bronze and silver by the Medallic Art Company of New York. The reported mintage is 182 pieces in bronze and 113 pieces in silver. The bronze medals originally cost $5 and the the silver medals $20 and were sold to members only.

References:   MACo 1968-136

The medal's obverse bears Icarus, depicted in αflight, his body stretching upwards at right, wings extended behind him at left; clouds around. Around lower left, SPIRIT ‧ OF ‧ SAINT ‧ LOUIS; on cloud below wing, Ικαςοs / 1927; signed around lower right, V ‧ S ‧ H ‧ SC

The reverse bears the AMSE symbol of globe on fulcrum in clouds, arm extending from right, holding the lever. Below, empty cartouche and FOR  ‧ MERITORIOUS ‧ SERVICE / IN ‧ THE ‧ ADVANCEMENT / OF ‧ AERONAUTICS / MCMXXIX; all surrounded by  ‧ THE ‧ AMERICAN ‧ SOCIETY ‧ OF ‧ / MECHANICAL ‧ ENGINEERS

This very handsome award medal depicts Icarus in a somewhat unusal fashion.  Usually, he is seen flying horizontally or tumbling from the sky.  This medal, as appropriate for an aeronautics award, focuses on his ascent rather than his tragic descent.

The circular medal measures 69.5mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company of New York City. No mintage is reported but based on its auction appearance, or better, the lack thereof, it is pretty rare. 

References:   MACo 1929-047

The medal's obverse bears portrait of Charles Darwin, facing left.

The reverse bears giant tortoise.

Charles Darwin was the 119th issue in the prestigious Society of Medalists series. Moss was the first non-American sculptor to be admitted into the ranks of Society of Medalists medalists.

According to Moss, the creation of this medal began in 1982 and was inspired by the anniversary of Charles Darwin's voyage aboard HMS Beagle. Moss first crafted the Darwin portrait in clay with "an earthy fossil-like character, and then when I made a cast in plaster the relief took on a bony quality." She was fascinated by the Giant Tortoise and its relation to Darwin. Moss wanted her medal to portray the strength in both man and beast. The result was a bold contrast between a crude and unfinished-looking portrait and a polished tortoise on finished field.

The medal measures 55mm x 73mm and was produced by the Medallic Art Company of Danbury, Connecticut. The edition was limited to 2,500 pieces but the actual mintage is unknown.

References:   MACo 1930-001-119, SoM 119

The uniface medallion's obverse shows nude, winged female figure with hammer and chisel.

This medal is still awarded during the National Sculpture Society's annual exhibition.  It is awarded in Gold, Silver and Bronze, corresponding with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prize winners. The Society's March 1, 1966 meeting minutes state that

"Charlotte Dunwiddie [Chair of the Exhibition Committee] asked to establish three medals: one gold, one silver and one bronze, as awards for the annual exhibition. After some discussion, a Motion was made, Seconded, and Carried, approving it.  The awards to be given to sculpture in the rounds, as well as to reliefs which do not fall under the other prizes for medals or small bas-reliefs.” 

In 1978, Bruno Mankowski won the Gold Medal for his 32" high bronze “Seated Figure.”

The medal bears the NSS' old logo (it was changed in 2015).  The logo is based on the sculpture ‘Into the Unknown’ by Hermon Atkins MacNeil which can be admired in the sculpture park at Brookgreen Gardens in South Carolina. While MacNeil cannot possibly have sculpted the medal, his sculpture is certainly the inspiration for the design.  I do not know whether he converted it to a medallic design himself or whether another sculptor did that after his death.

The medallion measures 98.2mm in diameter. No mintage is reported. Many thanks to Elizabeth Helms from the NSS for her assistance in documenting this beautiful medallion.

References:   ANS 2

The medal's obverse bears head of Arabian horse, facing left, stylized moon sickle behind. Around, 1908 · ARABIAN · HORSE · CLUB · OF · AMERICA ·

The reverse bears streamer running in zig zag down height and width of medal. On streamer, AWARDED / IN · CLASS / (empty) / HORSE SHOW / (empty) / (empty)

The Arabian Horse Club of America was established in 1908 in New York.  The founding members were Henry K. Bush-Brown, Homer Davenport, Charles A. Voetsch, Francis A. Huck, and James B. Kilburn. You might notice that one of the founders was Bush-Brown who also designed the medal!

Today, the club is incorporated under the name of Arabian Horse Registry of America, Inc, and in 2002 had 27,500 associate members.

The history of Arabian horses in America is quite interesting. After his second term as U.S. President, Ulysses S. Grant traveled the world. In 1877 he visited Sultan Abdul Hamid II in Turkey and, well-known as an admirer of horses, was gifted two Arab stallions by the sultan. One of the two eventually ended up in America and, together with another stallion and two mares can be considered the first purebred Arabian breeding program in the U.S. 

The second important influence is tied to the Chicago World's Fair of 1893. The Turkish exhibition included 45 purebreds.  The mare Nedjme and the stallion Obeyran stayed in the U.S. and became horses #1 and #2 in the Arabian Horse stud book.

The circular medal measures 50.6mm in diameter and was struck in bronze and silver by the Medallic Art Company of New York. No mintage is reported.

References:   MACo 1916-002

The medal's obverse bears Pan playing pipes over a skull. Around, INGENITA LEVITAS (levity is inborn); below, signature JC in a square. The reverse bears a man holding a mirror or mask. Around, ET ERUDITA VANITAS (and vanity is learned); below signature JC in a square.

In the 1980's Cook was slowly drifting towards darker subject matter and the skull on this medal is a precursor of things to come. By 1987 his FIDEM catalog entry stated that "his works represent an exploration into various images and manifestations of death."

In 1982 he was still transitioning and wrote in the medal's brochure:

"This brief couplet from Cicero's Pro Flacco presents a profound opposition of the dionysian and appollonian aspects of man's nature. Being deeply moved both by the wit and the simple beauty employed in the fusing together of thse diverse elements, I have tried in sculptural terms to achieve a like coupling."

This medal was chosen as the 105th issue of the prestigious Society of Medalists series in 1982. It measures 73mm in diameter and was struck by the Medallic Art Company of Danbury, Connecticut. The reported mintage is 750 pieces in bronze.

References:   MACo 1930-001-150, SoM 105

The medal's obverse bears a portrait of Charles Dickens, facing half right. Around top, CHARLES DICKENS; to left and right, ISSUED · IN / COMMEMORAT / ION · OF · THE - FIFTIETH / ANNIVERSARY / OF · CHARLES / SESSLER / 1932; signed along edge over left shoulder, SINNOCK

The reverse bears  a scene from "A Christmas Carol." Around, · 1882 · PHILADELPHIA · 1932 · / · RARE BOOKS (open book) FINE PRINTS · ; flanking scene, A / Christmas - Carol / 1843; signed in cursive under scene.

Charles Sessler was a rare book dealer whose store was located in a building on Philadelphia's Walnut Street. The building still exists and today houses the W. Graham Arader Gallery. Charles Sessler commissioned J.R. Sinnock to design this medal for his store's 50th anniversary.  The medal was given as a gift to select customers and friends.  Sessler wrote a dedication fthat was printed on the inside of the medal box's lid. It read:

1882—1932

I have called upon my favorite author,
Charles Dickens, to celebrate with me
the fiftieth anniversary of my career as
a bookseller.

The portrait is from an original photo-
graph of the immortal author.

The reverse ilustrates the frontispiece of
"A Christmas Carol" which is so aptly
called by A. Edward Newton, "the gayest
little picture in all the world." It is a
symbol of the happiness with which I
spend my time with books.

Presented to a few friends and patrons.

CHARLES SESSLER. 

The circular medal measures 76.3mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company of New York. No mintage is reported. A uniface variant is also known to exist.

References:   MACo 1931-062-001

The medal's obverse bears navy soldier in fighting stance, gun leveled towards left and infantry soldier in similar stance, gun leveld towards right. In background, ocean with ship at left and land with building at right. Around, FOR GOD & COUNTRY; in exergue, SEMPER FIDELIS; signed between soldiers above exergue, (RTM monogram) / 22

The reverse bears American eagle over cartouche and American Legion seal. In cartouche, AMERICAN LEGION / SCHOOL AWARD / COURAGE HONOR SERVICE / LEADERSHIP SCHOLARSHIP

The American Legion was formed in February 1919 by three officers of the American Expeditionary Forces in Paris. Congress chartered the organization in September of the same year and the group became very influential, playing the leading role in drafting and passing the so-called "GI Bill."

The circular medal measures 75.6mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company of New York. No mintage is reported.

References:   MACo 1922-044-01, Marqusee 261