All Medals

References:   Murtha 474

Chambellan designed this medal for the Allegheny Ludlum Steel company that was formed in 1938 by the merger of the Allegheny Steel Company of Brackenridge, Pennsylvania and the Ludlum Steel Company of Watervliet, New York. In 1996 it became part of Allegheny Technologies. I found a newspaper reference to the medal being awarded in 1946, which dates it to the period between 1938 and 1946. Dick Johnson dates it to 1946.

The obverse bears a bare chested steel worker wearing insulated gloves wielding a long rod, with machinery in the background. Above, THE PRESIDENT'S MEDAL; signed CHAMBELLAN / SC. The reverse bears a branch and a star with the embedded letters A-L. Around, ALLEGHENY LUDLUM AWARD; dedication in center, TO HONOR DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AND OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT.

This bronze medal has a diameter of 98mm (3 7/8in). It was struck by the Medallic Art Company but it does not bear a maker's mark, maybe due to the chrome plating.

References:   MACo 1946-013

The medal's obverse bears two allegorical female figures representing Europe and America, flanking a giant globe spanned by a cable; angel above, Eagle and Lion at the feet of their figures; three small panels below, bearing American Eagle and shield, native with trade goods and ocean in background, and British coat of arms. At bottom, TIFFANY & CO. N.Y.

The reverse bears two ships at sea with others in background. Above, FROM THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE / AND CITIZENS OF NEW YORK,; in exergue, COMMEMORATIVE OF THE PART TAKEN / BY HIM / IN LAYING THE FIRST / TELEGRAPHIC CABLE / BETWEEN / EUROPE AND AMERICA IN AUGUST, A.D. 1858

Cyrus West Field (1819-1892) was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts and rose to world-wide fame for being one of the backers of the first transatlantic telegraph cable.  The first trans-atlantic cable was laid from Telegraph Field, Foilhommerum Bay, Valentia Island in western Ireland to Heart's Content in eastern Newfoundland and heralded a new era of communications.  While the cable failed after a brief period of service, it proved the feasibility of the concept of instantaneous trans-atlantic communications. Its significance can be compared to the first trans-atlantic flight or the first Moon landing. 

The medal bears some similarity to the gold medals that were awarded to Field and his partner, but the reverse is different.  Struck by Tiffany and Company, New York, the circular medal measures 69mm in diameter.  Only few large-size bronze peices are known to exist.

Images courtesy of Stack's Bowers Galleries, www.StacksBowers.com.

References:   Marqusee 377

References:   Cal HM-2002

The medal's obverse bears old man and youth's heads combined into Janus head in center. Around, a symbolic evolutionary circle starting with the sun at the top and continuing via lower life forms at the right to lion at the bottom and chain of technological achievements at left, all the way to atoms, leading back to the sun. Signed on truncation of Janus head, EL

The reverse bears calendar panel in center with chain of human life stages from baby at top right to old man at left. At top, 1977; signed at right bottom of calendar panel (VM monogram)

Both sides of the medal deal with the passage of time.  The Janus head is the traditional symbol for the transition from one year to the other.  The obverse deals with evolution and epochal time periods while the reverse deals with the stages of a human life and the process of aging.

While the medal's pamphlet claims that the obverse was designed by Don Everhart II and sculpted by Ernest Lauser, Don Everhart denies ever having worked on this medal. I tend to believe that he knows best what medals he worked on and just hope that the remainder of the information is more accurate.

The reverse was designed by Yves Beaujard and sculpted by Vincent Miller.

The circular medal measures 76mm in diameter and was struck in bronze and silver by the Franklin Mint. No mintages are reported.  The silver variant was issued in a limited edition but I do not know the limit.

References:   Cal FM-1977

Both sides bear Star of David, symbols and names from all twelve medals. In center, THE / TWELVE / TRIBES OF / ISRAEL

This is the 13th medal in Elizabeth Weistrop's Twelve Tribes of Israel series. It was a bonus medal only available through a boxed collectors' set containing the other twelve medals.

The circular medal measures 43mm in diameter and was struck in bronze and silver by the Medallic Art Company of New York. No mintages are reported.

References:   MACo 1969-100-013, TToI 13

References:   Marqusee 219,220

The plaque depicts nude male figure, striding left, bearing torch and palm frond; behind him, rearing Pegasus and disc with SAFETY legend. Around top, ROHM & HAAS SAFETY AWARD; in exergue, AWARDED TO THE EMPLOYEES OF THE / BRIDESBURG PLANT / INTERLPANT SAFETY CONTEST / 1954; signed above exergue at right, RENE CHAMBELLAN SC.

The company was founded in Esslingen, Germany, by Dr. Otto Röhm and Otto Haas in 1907. Haas moved to Philadelphia and began the American side of the business on September 1, 1909, from an office on Front Street, while Otto Röhm remained in Germany to run a company that would eventually become Röhm GmbH.  The American side of the business grew rapidly and its annual revenue in 2008 reached almost $9 billion. In 2009, the Dow Chemical Corporation acquired Rohm & Haas, ending its independence.

The plaque was awarded to Rohm & Haas plants that had achieved outstanding results in attaining the company's objectives in industrial safety.  Usually, this meant an entire year of operations without an accident that caused the loss of work time due to injury. The plaque depicted is dated 1954 and that is the earliest mention of the award I could find.  While I can't know for sure, I would date the plaque to the early 1950's. Any additional information would be appreciated.

The plaque is cast in coppery bronze and measures 273mm x 395mm. No mintage is reported though it was still being awarded in the 1970's, so there must be quite a few of them around.

The medal's obverse bears figure of nude, lighlty covered young man facing left, standing with one foot on rock, one arm holding cloth behind his back, bent over book held in other hand; small Pegasus in exergue. At left, MENS / FER- / VIDA IN / CORPORE / LACERT- / OSO · ; signed and dated at right, (RTM monogram) / 1916

The reverse bears wreath decorated with coats of arms of participating universities. In center field on banner, To / SHELDON J MANN / FOR SCHOLARSHIP / AND ATHLETIC / PROWESS; (ICAA logo of interlocking letters)

The Intercollegiate Athletic Association grew out of the National Football Conference, acknowledging that there was a need to counter the rising commercialization and brutality of intercollegiate sports.  In 1905 alone there were 18 deaths and over 100 major injuries in collegiate football matches.  In 1905 a vote of the National Conference authorized the formation of a new national group and on March 31st, 1906, a constitution and by-laws were approved with sixty-two colleges as founding members. Its mission was to formulate rules that would apply to intercollegiate athletic competition in all sports.  In 1910 the ICAA was renamed the NCAA.

The medal was awarded to Sheldon Jenks Mann (1896-1968), a student of dentistry at Ohio State University. He was also a member of the dental honor fraternity Omicron Kappa Upsilon.

The Latin phrase translates roughly to "a passionate mind in a well-trained body" and is a variation of the more common "mens sana in corpore sano" or "a healthy mind in a healthy body," which was regarded as a mere recommendation for hygiene and did not seem to capture the fighting spirit of athletic competition enough. 

The circular medal measures 76.4mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company of New York.  No mintage is reported but it was only awarded for nine years, so there should not be too many.

References:   MACo 1916-008