All Medals

The medal's obverse bears astronaut on spacewalk, connected to capsule by coiling umbilical. Around, THe CONQUEST OF SPACE; signed at lower right, Calle/DiLorenzo © 1971

The reverse bears male figure with unraveling wings, looking backwards at massive sun with rays covering entire background. Around top, MAN'S DREAM

The circular medal measures 63.5mm in diameter and was struck in bronze and silver by the Medallic Art Company of New York. No mintage is reported.

References:   MACo 1971-086

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

The medallion's obverse bears a tall ship under full sail, half left, followed by other ship on horizon.  Below, FROM / W. R. GRACE & CO. / WILLIAM J. CASHiN / 1965 / IN RECOGNITION OF / 20 YEARS OF LOYAL SERVICE

The medallion's reverse bears the American double continent with shipping lines, surrounded by modern images including skyscrapers, freighter, industrial installations, plantations, and an airplane.

W.R. Grace and Company was founded in 1854, in Peru, by William Russell Grace, who left Ireland due to the potato famine, and traveled to South America with his father and family. He went first to Peru to work as a ship's chandler for the firm of Bryce and Company, to the merchantmen harvesting guano, used as a fertilizer and gunpowder ingredient.

His brother Michael joined the business and in 1865 the company name was changed to Grace Brothers & Co. The company set up head office operations in New York City in 1865. Working in fertilizer and machinery, the company was formally chartered in 1872, and incorporated in 1895.

The circular medallion measures 88.6mm in diameter and was struck in bronze and silver by the Medallic Art Company of New York.

References:   MACo 1937-019

The medal's obverse bears bust of William Penn, facing quarter-right. Around, 1682 · ARRIVAL OF WILLIAM PENN IN AMERICA · 1932; to left and right, AETIS. 22. - 1666.; signed over shoulder at right, Kilenyi; SAMPLE stamped across figure.

The medal's reverse bears scene of William Penn shaking hands with Native American leader, tribal council seated around, forest in back.

The circular medal was struck in bronze and sterling silver by the Whitehead-Hoag Company of Newark, New Jersey.  While quite common as a "So-called Dollar" with a diameter of 38.1mm in bronze, the silver variant is much less common and the large bronze medal has a reported mintage of only 250 pieces.

The small "So-called Dollar" variants have the numbers 461 and 462 in the Hibler & Kappen catalog of "So-called Dollars."

Many thanks to Harry Waterson for the information on mintages.

References:   MACo 1939-023

The medal's obverse bears female figure holding stylized caduceus in one hand, other held high, pointing to the right; symbols of industry and agriculture including steam train, telegraph wires, factories, corn cobs in background and at figure's feet. Around, TRANS-MISSISSIPPI AND INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION. / OMAHA; below, U.S.A / 1898

The medal's reverse bears wreath fashioned from two branches.  Below, S.D. CHILDS & CO. ENGRAVERS. CHICAGO.

The circular medal was struck by S. D. Childs & Co. of Chicago.

The uniface medallion's obverse bears muscular, bare-armed and gloved worker, facing right, removing a tire from an open mold. From number at left, text running around upper edge, 25 - YEAR OF FRIENDLY SERVICE; in exergue, (GOODYEAR logo) / THE GREATEST NAME / IN RUBBER; signed to right of mold, (RC monogram)

This is the 25 year version of Rene Chambellan's Goodyear series of medallions. All of these medallions came mounted to a wooden board to be hung in offices or shops that were selling Goodyear product. The mounting is done via a drilled, threaded pin that is affixed to the center of the medallion.

This medallion has Chambellan going back to one of his fortés: the depiction of industrial workers at their places of work.  Few American medallic sculptors did that as well as Chambellan.

Dick Johnson's reference does not list the set number for this medallion, so I follow his practice and list it with an x for unknown.

The circular medallion measures 102mm in diameter and is struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company of New York. No mintage is reported.

At least my examplar of this medallion is silver-plated.  Whether that was done by the Medallic Art Company or whether the recipient performed an "upgrade" on the medallion is unknown.  For now, I list the one known variant as made of bronze until I receive more feedback from other collectors.

References:   MACo 1948-041-x

The obverse bears  woman kneeling in gratitude with old-fashioned broom beneath her, being raised by goddess; trees and sun in background. Above, HOOVER SILVER JUBILEE; at lower left, 1907 / 1932.

The reverse bears image of Hoover's factory. Above, IN GRATEFUL RECOGNITION / OF THE COOPERATION TENDERED / DURING THE HOOVER SILVER / JUBILEE 1932;

The Hoover Company was founded as a floor care manufacturer in North Canton, Ohio, in 1908. It so completely dominated the electric vacuum cleaner market in the first half of the 20th century that "hoovering" became synonymous with vacuum cleaning, much as "googling" became synonymous with web searching at the beginning of the 21st century.

I have always loved Sinnock's design for the obverse because it is so completely over the top. While I would never belittle the impact that the invention of the vaccum cleaner had on a woman cleaning house in the 1930s, I always have to smile at the woman's look of abject adoration at the prospect of being freed from toil and at the rising sun promising a brighter future. Yes, Sinnock really crafted a medal in the classic mythological mould for the topic of electric vacuum cleaners!

The obverse was reused for several other medals.

The circular medal measures 70.3mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company of New York City. No mintage is reported.

References:   MACo 1932-037

References:   Cal HM-2002