Medals bearing Animals

The obverse bears bust of shepherd dog facing right. Over nose on right, FOUNDED / 1913; around, SHEPHERD-DOG-CLUB / OF-AMERICA; signed over shoulder at right, KILENYI.

The reverse bears idyllic image of sheep pasture with guarding shepherd dog at left and sun on horizon.

The edge is marked MEDALLIC ART CO. N.Y. BRONZE.

The German Shepherd Dog Club of America was founded in 1913 and incorporated in 1916 by Anne Tracy, Margaret C. Throop, Edith May Schley, Vemon Castle, John Volkman, Paul Huhn, & B.R. Ruggles. Like all breed-specific clubs, its mission was to define the breed, participate in shows, and interest the public.

The medal measures 50mm in diameter and was struck in bronze and silver by the Medallic Art Company of New York.

References:   MACo 1925-040-01

The obverse bears head of a Jersey cow facing left. Around, · AMERICAN · JERSEY · CATTLE · CLVB ·; below, ORGANIZED 1868 / CHARTERED 1880; signed under head, (GK monogram)

The reverse bears idyllic scene with three Jersey calves on pasture, sun rising on horizon. Around, · OMNIS · PECVNIAE · PECVS · FVNDAMENTVM ·; inscribed, SOPHIE'S HANNAH / R. OF M. 1925

The edge is marked MEDALLIC ART CO. N.Y. 14K

The American Jersey Cattle Association, as it is known today, was founded in 1868. It is the oldest dairy breed registry organization in the United States. The services it provides to today's dairy business owners include animal identification and recording, production testing and type appraisal, and genetic evaluations.

This medal is not part of Dick Johnson's excellent reference on American medals. It combines the obverse and reverse from two other medals that Kawamura designed for the Jersey Cattle Club. Kawamura's entire medallic work is cattle-related.

The medal measures 35mm in diameter and was struck in bronze, silver, and gold by the Medallic Art Company of New York. No mintages are reported.

The medal's obverse bears female figure, facing right, lightly resting arm on back of doe while holding down tree branch so doe can reach it. Around, THE · MASSACHUSETTS · SOCIETY · FOR · THE · PREVENTION · OF · CRUELTY · TO · ANIMALS; at left, KINDNESS / IS THE GREAT / VIRTUE · ;to right, · TO LOVE / BEAUTY IS TO / DRAW · NEAR / TO GOD · ; in exergue, MEDAL · OF · AWARD; signed at lower right, RAYMOND / PORTER

The reverse bears lit torch at top and laurel wreath around. Engraved in center field to HOLMES C. HURLL / APRIL 1928

The Massachusetts Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or MSPCA for short, was founded in 1868. Boston Brahmin lawyer George Thorndike Angell began a high-profile protest of animal cruelty, after reading about two horses being raced to death by carrying two riders each over forty miles of rough roads. He joined with Emily Appleton, a Boston socialite and animal lover who provided financial support. They and 1,200 others formed the MSPCA. Among distinguished locals on the first board of directors were John Quincy Adams II, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Saltonstall, and William Gordon Weld.

The circular medal measures 76mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Whitehead & Hoag Company of Newark, New Jersey. No mintage is reported.

The galvano bears a horse facing left. to its left, 2/6; at top and bottom, Leath / Choroin

In 1926, Paul Manship was given the opportunity to participate in an international competition to design the coinage of the Irish Free State. Dublin-born poet William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) had proposed a general motif of animals and items associated with Irish life, including a horse, hen, ram, salmon, hare, wolfhound, wood duck, harp, and bull’s head.

Manship lost the competition to English sculptor Percy Metcalf, but graciously acknowledged that, had he been on the jury, he would have made the same decision.

The circular galvano measures 114.4mm in diameter.

References:   Murtha 210

References:   Murtha 213

References:   Murtha 216

References:   Murtha 214

References:   Murtha 212

The medal's obvese bears a desert scene from a trading caravan with camel at left and group of two Bedouins haggling over a length of cloth; camels in background on sand dune. Signed at bottom right, KILENYI

The obverse bears city with factories in background. In lower half, NATIONAL RETAIL DRY GOODS ASSOCIATION / REPLICA OF MEDALS / AWARDED TO / CARLOS B. CLARK AND LEW HAHN / FOR DISTINGUISHED SERVICE / TO THE CRAFT / PRESENTED FEBRUARY 7. 1929

Clark and Hahn each received a gold medal that was named to them. Another 18 gold medals were issued over the next 30 years. One gold-plated medal named to Seidel is kjnown to exist. 

Many thanks to Harry Waterson for the detailed information on variants and mintages.