Robbins Co. - Medals | Medallic Art Collector

Description

The obverse bears scene with Reverend Davenport preaching the sermon Temptations of the Wilderness to the colonists under large oak tree. Below image in center field, THE DESERT SHALL REJOICE; Around top, QUINNIPIACK; at bottom, 1638.

The reverse bears image of modern New Haven with harbor. Below image in center field, AND BLOSSOM AS THE ROSE; Around, THREE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF NEW HAVEN - 1938.

The edge bears the marks ROBBINS CO. / ATTLEBORO - BRONZE.

The medal measures 75mm in diameter and was struck by the Robbins Company of Attleboro, Massachusetts.

Medal Details

This section contains a table of detailed medal information. Currently, I am not aware of any variants of this medal. Please notify me if you come across any or if you find incorrect or missing information.

material	Bronze
edge6	ROBBINS CO. / ATTLEBORO - BRONZE
diameter	75mm
mintage	unknown

Last modified: Oct 26, 2017 16:41

Bronze

Description

The obverse bears view of iconic Trylon and Perisphere; at upper right, a full length figure of George Washington emerges from cloud banks. At bottom, NEW YORK WORLD'S FAIR / 1939; at right, ©

The reverse bears three panels; top panel shows Trylon and Perisphere over radiant sun; above, THE WORLD OF TOMORROW; the middle panel shows view of Manhattan skyline as seen from the World's Fair grounds with legend TODAY; bottom panel shows view of New Amsterdam with legend YESTERDAY; signed at top right corner of bottom panel, KILENYI

The edge bears the marks ROBBINS CO. / ATTLEBORO - BRONZE.

This was the official medal of the New York World's Fair of 1939-40. The 190m-tall spire-shaped Trylon contained the (at the time) longest escalator and the 54m-diameter Perisphere housed a diorama called "Democracity" which depicted an topian city-of-the-future. A moving sidewalk transported spectators past the exhibits.

A much rarer version of the medal exists in which the year is 1940 rather than 1939.

The medal measures 63.5mm in diameter and was struck by the Robbins Company of Attleboro, Massachusetts.

References: Marqusee 227

Variant Details

This section contains a table of detailed variant information. Currently, I am only aware of 2 variants of this medal. Please notify me if you come across any others or if you find incorrect or missing information.

material	Bronze
edge6	ROBBINS CO. / ATTLEBORO - BRONZE
diameter	63.5mm
mintage	unknown

material	Silver-plated bronze
edge6
diameter	63.5mm
mintage	unknown

Last modified: Nov 30, 2017 10:01

Description

The obverse bears view of iconic Trylon and Perisphere; at upper right, a full length figure of George Washington emerges from cloud banks. At bottom, NEW YORK WORLD'S FAIR / 1940; at right, ©

The reverse bears three panels; top panel shows Trylon and Perisphere over radiant sun; above, THE WORLD OF TOMORROW; the middle panel shows view of Manhattan skyline as seen from the World's Fair grounds with legend TODAY; bottom panel shows view of New Amsterdam with legend YESTERDAY; signed at top right corner of bottom panel, KILENYI

The edge bears the marks ROBBINS CO. / ATTLEBORO - BRONZE.

This was the official medal of the New York World's Fair of 1939-40. The 190m-tall spire-shaped Trylon contained the (at the time) longest escalator and the 54m-diameter Perisphere housed a diorama called "Democracity" which depicted an topian city-of-the-future. A moving sidewalk transported spectators past the exhibits.

This is the much rarer version of the medal that shows the year as 1940 rather than 1939.

The medal measures 63.5mm in diameter and was struck by the Robbins Company of Attleboro, Massachusetts.

Medal Details

This section contains a table of detailed medal information. Currently, I am not aware of any variants of this medal. Please notify me if you come across any or if you find incorrect or missing information.

material	Bronze
edge6	ROBBINS CO. / ATTLEBORO - BRONZE
diameter	63.5mm
mintage	unknown

Last modified: Oct 26, 2017 16:42

Description

The obverse bears scene of steam train speeding around a bend in upper half. Two line inscription on a raised band across: THE NEW YORK AIR BRAKE COMPANY/ 1890 FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY 1940. Underneath, a carriage drawn by 4 horses. Around top, NEW YORK AIR BREAKS OF THE PRESENT; below BRAKES OF THE PAST.

The reverse depicts an actual air brake. Above, under laurels, GOLDEN JUBILEE; below, AIR BRAKES BRING / SURETY AND SWIFTNESS

The medal is edge-marked ROBBINS CO / ATTLEBORO - GENUINE / BRONZE.

The New York Air Brake Company has a fascinating history including intrigue, corporate raiding, and even murder. In the late 19th century the booming railroad industry was in desperate need of a good braking system. As trains had gotten faster, slowing them down in a controlled fashion became an ever more pressing problem. By the 1860s, two systems were competing for dominance: a vacuum system and a pressurized air system.

Frederick Eames was an inventor who moved to Watertown, NY, in 1874 where he founded the Eames Vacuum Brake Company in 1876. After his top sales man had attempted to cheat him out of the company, he went to court and won back control in 1882. Unfortunately, he was fatally shot while retaking the factory in 1883.

The company was re-incorporated by John Thompson in 1890 as the New York Air Brake Company. Wall Street raiders used manufactured bad news to profiteer in the stock markets. Two investors stayed faithful and protected the young company. While Westinghouse had pioneered air brakes and consequently had a lead in the marketplace, the industry was reluctant to accept one monopoly supplier. Consequently, New York Air Brakes prospered with the growing railroad industry. Finally, in 1912, Westinghouse and New York Air Brakes agreed to share the market and started cooperating on research and development.

While the somewhat pedestrian motif of an air brake on the medal's reverse does not seem all too poetic, the fascinating story more than makes up for any perceived shortcomings. It is a beautiful example of an industrial medal of the 1940s.

The medal measures 76mm (3in) and was struck by the Robbins Company of Attleboro, Massachusetts in bronze.

Medal Details

This section contains a table of detailed medal information. Currently, I am not aware of any variants of this medal. Please notify me if you come across any or if you find incorrect or missing information.

material	Bronze
edge6	ROBBINS CO / ATTLEBORO - GENUINE / BRONZE
diameter	76mm
mintage	unknown

Last modified: Oct 26, 2017 16:41

Description

The medal's obverse bears portrait of Herman Page, Bishop of Michigan. Around, · HERMAN PAGE BISHOP OF MICHIGAN · / 1924 - 1940; signed at right, KILENYI

The reverse bears bishopric seal. Around, AN EXAMPLE OF THE BELIEVERS + IN WORD + IN CONVERSATION + IN CHARITY + IN SPIRIT + IN FAITH + IN PURITY / I TIMOTHY / - IV - 12

Herman Riddle Page was born in Boston, Massachusetts on May 23, 1866 to Eben Blake Page and Harriet Josephine (nee Woodward). He attended Boston Latin School and Harvard University (A.B. 1888). In 1891 he graduated from Episcopal Theological School at Cambridge and was ordained that same year. He held several positions including Holy Trinity Mission, Wallace, Idaho (a mining camp); St. Luke's Church in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; St. John's Church in Fall River, Massachusetts and Christ Church, Swanee. In 1900 he moved to St. Paul's Church in Chicago, Illinois, and in 1915 became the Bishop of the Missionary District of Spokane, Washington. His son, Herman Riddle Page, Jr., succeeded him as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan.

Harry Waterson, the Kilenyi specialist, reports that Page sat twice for Kilenyi, leading to a particularly life-like portrait. Kilenyi also took great care to match the font on the obverse to the typeface used on the diocesan seal (Lombardic). The fact that the font usd for the biblical quote on the reverse does not match makes Waterson believe that Kileny only engraved the obverse and the seal and the quotation was likely added later by a Robbins Co. staff engraver.

The circular medal measures 70mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Robbins Company of Attleboro, Massachusetts. The reported mintage is 500 pieces in bronze.

Medal Details

This section contains a table of detailed medal information. Currently, I am not aware of any variants of this medal. Please notify me if you come across any or if you find incorrect or missing information.

material	Bronze
edge6	ROBBINS CO
diameter	70mm
weight	150.8g
mintage	500 reported

Last modified: Jan 7, 2018 20:41

Gilt bronze

Description

The medal's obverse bears bust of Franklin Delano Roosevelt facing left. Around, FOUR FREEDOMS VICTORY MEDAL / FRANKLIN D / ROOSEVELT.

The reverse bears burning torch and laurel wreath. Above, VICTORY MEDAL; below, FOUR FREEDOMS / FREEDOM OF SPEECH / FREEDOM OF WORSHIP / FREEDOM FROM FEAR / FREEDOM FROM WANT.

The Four Freedoms were goals articulated by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt on January 6, 1941. In an address known as the Four Freedoms speech (technically the 1941 State of the Union address), he proposed four fundamental freedoms that people "everywhere in the world" ought to enjoy:

Freedom of speech

Freedom of worship

Freedom from want

Freedom from fear

The Robbins Company had designed a gold medal with a different reverse that was to be given to Roosevelt and awarded to major contributors to the war effort. Unfortunately, Roosevelt died before the end of World War II and Robbins created this medal to be issued on its own behalf.

The circular medal measures 36mm in diameter and was struck in bronze, silver, gilt bronze and gold by the Robbins Company of Attleboro, Massachusetts. The four known gold pieces were given to Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin and Chang Kai Shek. The less rare variants are all estimated to exist in mintages between 201 and 500. A single galvano is also known to exist.

The medal is known as a so-called dollar and the bronze, silver and gilt variants are often referred to by their identifiers HK-912, HK-911 and HK-913 respectively.

Again, many thanks to Harry Waterson for the details and corrections he supplied to the documentation of this medal.

Variant Details

This section contains a table of detailed variant information. Currently, I am only aware of 4 variants of this medal. Please notify me if you come across any others or if you find incorrect or missing information.

material	Bronze
diameter	38mm
mintage	201 - 500 reported

material	Silver
diameter	38mm
mintage	201 - 500 reported

material	Gilt bronze
diameter	38mm
weight	24.3g
mintage	201 - 500 reported

material	14k Gold
diameter	38mm
mintage	4 reported

Last modified: Jan 28, 2018 19:13

Bronze

Description

The medal's obverse bears a winged plaque and lots of lext. Around top, THE PORT OF NEW YORK AUTHORITY; at top of center, NEW YORK / INTERNATIONAL / AIRPORT; on plaque, DEDICATION / JULY 31, 1948, followed by long list of names and titles; plaque surrounded by airport statistics.

The medal's reverse bears an aireal view of runway layout with clouds at top and sea at bottom. Around bottom edge, © NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT; signed over shoreline at left, KILENYI

New York International Airport, now known as John F. Kennedy airport, was built to relieve LaGuardia Airport which was overcrowded soon after opening in 1939. Construction began in 1943, and about $60 million was initially spent of governmental funding, but only 1,000 acres (400 ha) of land on the site of the Idlewild Golf Course were earmarked for use.

The project was renamed Major General Alexander E. Anderson Airport in 1943, after a Queens resident who had commanded a Federalized National Guard unit in the southern United States and died in late 1942. In March 1948 the New York City Council changed the name to New York International Airport, Anderson Field, but the common name was "Idlewild" until 1963.

The Port Authority leased the JFK property from the City of New York in 1947 and maintains this lease today. The first airline flight from JFK was on July 1, 1948; the opening ceremony was attended by then U.S. President Harry S. Truman. The Port Authority cancelled foreign airlines' permits to use LaGuardia, forcing them to move to JFK during the next couple of years.

This medal measures 76mm (3in) in diameter and was struck in bronze and silver by the Robbins Company of Attleboro, Massachusetts. A silver variant was part of the Marqusee collection.

References: Marqusee 226

Variant Details

This section contains a table of detailed variant information. Currently, I am only aware of 2 variants of this medal. Please notify me if you come across any others or if you find incorrect or missing information.

material	Bronze
edge6	ROBBINS - GENUINE / BRONZE
diameter	76mm
weight	186.6g
mintage	unknown

material	Silver
diameter	76mm
mintage	unknown

Last modified: Jan 28, 2018 19:02

Bronze

Description

The medal's obverse bears corner view of New York Port Authority Bus Terminal with billowing clouds above. Around, PORT AUTHORITY BUS TERMINAL; streets labeled, 41ST ST. and 8TH AVE.; below, TO SERVE THE PUBLIC; signed at bottom, KILENYI

The reverse bears garlanded tablet in center field. Around, THE PORT OF NEW YORK AUTHORITY; above tablet, PORT AUTHORITY / BUS / TERMINAL; on tablet, DEDICATED / DECEMBER 14, 1950; list of officials' names follows.

By 1939, growing interstate bus traffic was causing chaos in New York City. Buses would drive to and from eight separate bus terminals scattered throughout Midtown. Congestion was a major problem, and the City needed a good answer.

Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia appointed a committee of City officials to resolve the issue. The committee arrived at several solutions, which were quickly shot down by the City's smaller bus terminals. That's when the Mayor asked the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921, to promote and protect the commerce of the bistate region, to evaluate the concept of consolidating all smaller bus stations into one central terminal. Ground was broken on January 27, 1949, and on December 15, 1950, the new Bus Terminal was dedicated.

This medal measures approximately 76mm in diameter and was struck in bronze and silver by the Robbins Company of Attleboro, Massachusetts. No mintage is reported.

Variant Details

This section contains a table of detailed variant information. Currently, I am only aware of 2 variants of this medal. Please notify me if you come across any others or if you find incorrect or missing information.

material	Bronze
edge6
diameter	76mm
mintage	unknown

material	Silver
edge6
diameter	75.5mm
weight	220.8g
mintage	unknown

Last modified: Jan 24, 2018 10:14

Description

The medal's obverse bears a classic Mayan motif of two priests at an altar. Incuse on altar, 1950; In exergue, THE / ALFRED VINCENT / KIDDER / AWARD

The reverse shows a Southwestern pueblo under cliff or in cave, maybe Mesa Verde. Above, FOR / ACHIEVEMENT / IN / AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY; signed T.P. along rim in lower right.

The edge is marked at 12:00, ROBBINS CO. ATTLEBORO / GENUINE BRONZE

Alfred Vincent Kidder (October 29, 1885 - June 11, 1963) was an American archaeologist considered the foremost of the southwestern United States and Mesoamerica during the first half of the 20th century. He saw a disciplined system of archaeological techniques as a means to extend the principles of anthropology into the prehistoric past and so was the originator of the first comprehensive, systematic approach to North American archaeology.

Established in 1950, the Alfred Vincent Kidder Award for Eminence in the Field of American Archaeology was given every three years to an outstanding archaeologist specializing in the archaeology of the Americas. The award has been given alternately to specialists in Mesoamerican archaeology and the archaeology of the Southwestern region &emdash; areas that were both central to the pioneering and exemplary work of A. V. Kidder.

This award, presented by the AAA but selected by the Archaeology Division of AAA, is now given every two years.

The medal expresses the two different archeaological areas of interest through the imagery on the two sides, both of which were designed by Tatiana Proskouriakoff (1909-1985). She not only designed the medal but was also the award's fifth recipient. The Mayan motif on the obverse represents the Mesoamerican area, whereas the pueblo scene on the reverse represents the Northamerican Southwest.

The medal measures 76mm (3in) in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Robbins Company of Attleboro, Massachusetts.

Medal Details

This section contains a table of detailed medal information. Currently, I am not aware of any variants of this medal. Please notify me if you come across any or if you find incorrect or missing information.

material	Bronze
edge6
edge12	ROBBINS CO. ATTLEBORO / GENUINE BRONZE
diameter	76mm
mintage	unknown

Last modified: Oct 26, 2017 15:46