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The medal's obverse bears seal of the University of Pittsburgh. Around, SIGILLUM CANCELLARII UNIVERSITATIS PITTSBURGHENSIS
The reverse bears incuse legend, WORN FIRST / BY / EDWARD HAROLD LITCHFIELD / AT HIS / INAUGURATION AS / TWELFTH CHANCELLOR / OF THE / UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH / MAY 11. 1957
The medallion measures 76mm in diameter and was strucki n gold-plated bronze by the Medallic Art Company of New York. No mintage is reported.
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 | Gold-plated bronze |
|---|---|
| edge6 | MEDALLIC ART CO. N.Y. / BRONZE |
| diameter | 76mm |
| weight | 178.2g |
| mintage | unknown |
The obverse bears profile portrait medal of a Harvard president dressed in an academic robe. To left and right, MDCCC/LXVIIII - MDCCCL/XXXXIIII, signed at bottom, B. L. Pratt
The reverse bears two torches at left and right, a scroll reading VERI / TAS over the left, a wreath over the right, all surrounded by decorative wreath. Multi-line text accross, CAROLO / GVILIELMO · ELIOT / VNIVERSITATIS / HARVARDIANAE / VIGESIMVM · QVINTVM / IAM · ANNVM / PRAESIDI / OB EXIMIA · EIVS · MERIT-A / A · M · D · CCC · LXXXXIIII / ALVMNI
Charles William Eliot (1834-1926) was selected as Harvard's president in 1869. He transformed the provincial college into one of the most famous universities in the world. Eliot served until 1909, having the longest term as president in the university's history.
This beautiful medal celebrates Eliot's twenty-five years of service to the university.
The circular medallion measures 98mm in diameter and is cast in bronze. The mintage is not reported.
References: Baxter 216
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 | |
| diameter | 98mm |
| mintage | unknown |
This medal's obverse bears an image of Princeton's Nassau Hall with tree framed way leading to its door. Below, AVLA NASSOVICA / MDCCCXCVI; signed in right-most tree, TSC
The medal's reverse multi-line inscription: The legend reads: DE / ISVB NVMINE / VICET / QVOD ANTEA FVIT / COLLEGIVM / NEOCAESARIENSE / NVNC ANNIS+CL+IMPLETIS / VNIVERSITAS / PRINCETONIENSIS / SAECVLVM SPECTAT / NOVVM
As the Princeton College Bulletin from December 1896 reports:
"At a meeting of the Sesquicentennial Celebration Committee held in February, 1895, it was decided to issue a memorial medal. Accordingly the work was put in the hands of Mr. Thomas Shields Clarke, of the class of 1882, to make a series of studies of Nassau Hall, which it was decided was to form the subject for the face of the medal. It was resolved that a Latin inscription should be placed on the back of the medal. Mr. Clarke completed his clay model, of nearly eleven inches in diameter, and from it made a plaster cast, which was then sent to the United States Mint in Philadelphia and reduced on a pair of dies three inches in diameter, under the superintendence of Mr. Charles E. Barber, of the engraving department of the Mint. Two proof medals were then struck in bronze and proved entirely satisfactory. The medals were then struck off, one copy in pure gold, thirty copies in silver and five hundred copies in bronze. The Mint also arranged for making cases for the medals. Each case was nearly five inches square and was lined on the inside with black velvet with a touch of orange velvet edging. The Latin inscription on the back together with the words on the face is so arranged as to bring in the College of New Jersey, Nassau Hall, Princeton University, the date 1896 and the statement of the change of title. The lettering is done in capitals of the Augustan period."
The Latin inscription on the back roughly translates to:
"What was once the College of New Jersey, now fulfills one hundred and fifty years, and as Princeton University beholds a new age."
The medal measures 76mm in diameter and was struck in bronze, silver and gold by the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia. The reported mintage is 1 piece in gold, 30 in silver and 500 in bronze. The bronze pieces originally cost $5 and the silver pieces $15.
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 | 500 reported |
| material | Silver |
|---|---|
| edge6 | |
| diameter | 76mm |
| mintage | 30 reported |
The medal's obverse bears likeness of George Washington, three quarters left. At upper right, GEORGE WASHINGTON; over right shoulder, BORN 1732 / DIED 1799; signed below, A Scharff.
The reverse depicts the newly erected Hall of Fame for Great Americans building at the University of New York. Above, HALL OF FAME FOR GREAT AMERICANS / ERECTED IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK IN 1900; in cartouche, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY CHARTERED - MDCCCXXXI / UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS PURCHASED - MDCCCXCI / UNIVERSITY COLLEGE REMOVED MDCCCXCIV / THIS HALL OF FAME WAS COMPLETED MCM / IN HONOR OF GREAT AMERICANS
This medal by famous Austrian medalist Anton Scharff can be regarded as the inaugural medal for the Hall of Fame of Great Americans medal series (which came much later) and is also a very beautiful George Washington medal by itself.
George Washington was immortalized on innumerable medals and coins but I like this one in particular as it shows him out of uniform and frontal rather than in profile. He looks like a regular man who just happened to become the father of a nation.
This medal is a part of most famous American Museum collections. It measures 72mm in diameter and was struck in both bronze and silver in unknown quantities.
References: Baxter 273
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 | 72mm |
| mintage | unknown |
| material | Silver |
|---|---|
| edge6 | |
| diameter | 72mm |
| mintage | unknown |
This medal's obverse depicts Truth guiding Apollo's chariot. At top, LVX ET / VERITAS; signed at bottom, B L PRATT
The reverse bears five lines of inscription flanked by burning torches, VNIVERSITAS YALENSIS / A D MDCCCCI / CONCELEBRAT / COLLEGIVM YALENSE / A D MDCCI CONDITVM
The edge is hallmarked TIFFANY & CO
Bela Lyon Pratt was himself a graduate of Yale and was commissioned in 1899 by Professors Weir and Niemeyer to design this medal for the upcoming 200th anniversary of Yale College. The medal was struck in silver and bronze. One of the silver medals was given to President Theodore Roosevelt and one of the bronze medals was taken into space by Astronaut Joseph B. Allen.
This is a beautiful medal with a very appropriate design for one of great universities of the world.
The circular medal measures 70mm in diameter and was produced by Tiffany & Company of New York. It was struck in bronze and silver in unknown mintages.
References: Baxter 217, Marqusee 325
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 | 70mm |
| mintage | unknown |
| material | Silver |
|---|---|
| edge6 | |
| diameter | 70mm |
| mintage | unknown |
The plaquette's obverse bears draped, torch-bearing youth facing right, climbing uip slope with arm lifted in longing gesture. At top left, NVMEN / LVMEN; signed at bottom right, V.D.Brenner
The reverse bears distant panoramic view of university grounds at top, wreath with garlands at bottom. In 8 lines, · THE · /VNIVERSITY / OF WISCONSIN / COMMEMORATES / · FIFTY · YEARS · / OF SERVICE · TO · THE / COMMONWEALTH / · 1904 ·
The rectangular plaquette was struck in bronze by an unkown maker from 1904 to 1914 and by the Medallic Art Company of New York afterwards. It measures 42.2mm x 62.5mm. No mintage is reported.
References: Marqusee 95
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 | |
| dimensions | 42.2mm x 62.5mm |
| weight | 54.4g |
| mintage | unknown |
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 | |
| mintage | unknown |
This plaquette's obverse bears shoulder-length portrait of George Bailey Hopson facing left with inscription in exergue, GEORGE . BAILEY . HOPSON . D. D.; signed at top right, V.D.Brenner
The reverse bears inscription at left with the "Well of Knowledge" at right and palm and laurel branches beneath, FOR / FIFTY YEARS / PROFESSOR / OF LATIN / AT ST. STEPHENS / COLLEGE / 1863 - 1913; signed at bottom right with (VDB monogram)
The plaquette celebrates George Bailey Hopson (1838-1916) who was born into a family of clergymen. His father was the rector at St. Machael's Church at Naugatuck and his great grandfather had been rector at the Christ Church of Derby, Connecticut. It came as no surprise that he also pursued the ministry and was ordained as a deacon in 1863. An accident forced him to give up his work and after recovering he accepted a position at St. Stephen's College in Annandale, New York. He would be teaching Latin there for the next fifty years and greatly influence two full generations of students in the Classics and Literature.
The rectangular plaquette was struck in bronze and measures 56mm x 77mm.
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 | |
| dimensions | 56mm x 77mm |
| mintage | unknown |
The medal's obverse bears seated female figure, arm raised in appeal to standing female figure. Around, NON SCHOLAE SED VITAE; signed at bottom, H. Schuler 1914
The reverse bears open book with rose across. In central bar, PEABODY MEDAL; inscrobed and dated at top and bottom, DOROTHY HOWARD / 1925
The Latin phrase "NON SCHOLAE SED VITAE" is the short form of a phrase that first appeared in Seneca's letters. It roughly translates to "We do not learn for school, but for life."
The Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University was founded in 1857 and is the oldest conservatory in the United States.
References: MACo 1914-003
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 | Gold-plated bronze |
|---|---|
| edge6 | |
| mintage | unknown |
This plaquette bears portrait of Smith facing right; ivy ranks framing window behind him. At top, VERITAS; below window frame, BOSTON / 1915; at bottom THEOBALD SMITH
Theobald Smith (1859-1934) was a pioneering epidemiologist and pathologist and is widely considered to be America's first internationally significant medical research scientist. In 1895 Smith moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts to accept a dual appointment: serve as professor of comparative pathology at Harvard University, and direct the pathology lab at the Massachusetts State Board of Health. Smith joined the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research as Director of the Department of Animal Pathology in 1915 and remained there until his retirement in 1929.
This plaquette was commissioned by Harvard University to commemorate Smith's departure after 20 years as a professor.
My copy comes framed and I did not have the heart to take the assembly appart to take a stand-alone picture. If someone has a good picture to share, I would appreciate it.
The plaquette measures 51mm x 73mm and was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company of New York. No mintage is reported.
References: MACo 1915-015, Marqusee 324
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 | |
| dimensions | 51mm x 73mm |
| mintage | unknown |