Medals by University

This uniface plaquette shows a Japanese student, facing away towards rising sun, with arms lifted high in gesture of invocation; ocean and Japaneses buildings in background. Along left edge, Japanese characters; aling right edge, JOCHI = UNIVERSITY; signed at top right, Leo Z Moll

Sophia University, or Jochi Daigaku as it is called in Japanese, was founded by Jesuits in 1913. It began with the mission to build a bridge between Japan and the Christian West. It is located in the heart of Tokyo and still operates as a private Jesuit university bringing together the best of the Western and Asian intellectual traditions.

This handsome little plaquette came with a brochure that matched the plaquette in size. It reads:

The single Japanese is symbolic of the nation. The sun represents the light and guidance that Jochi University hopes to bring to the Country of the Rising Sun.

References:   MACo 1931-016

The medal's obverse bears deep relief portrait of Townsend Harris, facing slight right. Around top, TOWNSEND HARRIS MEDAL; signed and dated at lower left, d'A / 1933

The reverse bears legend only. Around, THE ASSOCIATE ALUMNI OF THE COLLEGE OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK; across, FOR / NOTABLE / ACHIEVEMENT / LOUIS KAUFMAN ANSPACHER / '97

Townsend Harris (1804 –1878) was a successful New York City merchant and minor politician, and the first United States Consul General to Japan. He negotiated the "Harris Treaty" between the US and Japan and is credited as the diplomat who first opened the Empire of Japan to foreign trade and culture in the Edo period.

The circular medal measures 75.3mm in diameter and was struck by the Medallic Art Company of New York.  No mintage is reported.

References:   MACo 1933-008

References:   MACo 1936-002

This medal's obverse bears Harvard's coat of arms with VE - RI -TAS on open books surrounded by wreath. Around, ANNO · ACADEMIAE · HARVARDIANA · TRECENTESIMO · - · MDCCCCXXXVI ·

The reverse bears multiline inscription, 1636 · 1936 / OUT OF SMALL / BEGINNINGS GREAT / ER THINGS HAVE / BEEN PRODUSED BY HIS / HAND THAT MADE ALL / THINGS OF NOTHING / AND GIVES BEING / TO ALL THINGS / THAT ARE

Harvard University itself needs little introduction. Founded in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature and named after its first prominent benefactor, John Harvard, Harvard is the oldest and probably most prestigious U.S. university (though Yale University is in eternal contention for the latter.)

Harvard University celebrated the three-hundredth anniversary of the College's founding in 1936 with an elaborate Tercentenary Celebration. The festivities included exhibits, special lectures, summer school courses, and culminated with the Tercentenary Days on September 16-18, 1936. Delegates from other academic institutions and learned societies were invited for the celebration and to participate in symposia discussing their fields. This medal was given as a present to all of the delegates who attended the celebration. The inscription on the reverse is a quotation from William Bradford's History of Plimmoth Plantation.

The circular medal measures 81.9mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company of New York. No mintage is reported. The medal was also struck in silver, attached to ribbons, and used as a badge by attendees of the Tercentenary Conference of Arts and Sciences. Smaller diameter coins were distributed as well during the conference.

References:   MACo 1936-012, Marqusee 103

The medal's obverse bears the university's coat of arms. Above and below, UNIVERSITY / OF / PENNSYLVANIA; to left and right, 1740 - 1940; in streamer across, LEGES - SINE MORIBUS - VANAE

The reverse bears a herm crowned by wo heads, oil lamp to left, light bulb on right. On both sides, TEMP- / ORIS LUX - ILLUSTRET / ACTI - POSTERITATIS / VIAM; in exergue, © / (RTM monogram) / 1938

R. Tait McKenzie designed this medal before his death in 1938.  The dies were created in 1939 and used to commemorate a 1940 event celebrating the 200th anniversary of the university.

The circular medal was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company of New York. No mintage is reported.

References:   MACo 1939-004

The uniface medal bears a basketbll player poised to pass ball, r. Across, NATIONAL - COLLEGIATE / BASKET- BALL / CHAM- PION- SHIP; signed (RAW monogram) / ©

Dick Johnson lists three different set numbers for this medal but as they are without images, I can't be sure which one this medal represents.  The set numbers are 001 through 003.

The circular medal measures 44.3mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company of New York.

References:   MACo 1950-056

The medal bears kneeling mother holding infant up into the air for a kiss. Around, · AMERICAN COLLEGE of OBSTETRICIANS & GYNECOLOGISTS; at left, 1951

The style and subject matter tend to make me want to attribute the medal to Abram Belskie, who designed a lot of medals for medical colleges and practitioners and did a lot of his best work in this late art deco style.

The circular uniface medal measures 64mm in diameter and was struck in a greyish metal, probably lead. It is likely a trial strike of a medal I have not yet identified.

The medal's obverse bears seal of Ohio University. Around conjoined busts of Putnam and Cutler, RELIGIO · DOCTRINA · CIVILITAS · PRAE OMNIBUS - VIRTUS /  ·  ·  · RUFUS PUTNAM ·  ·  · MANASSEH CUTLER ·  ·  ·; around, SIGILLUM UNIVERSITATIS OHIENSIS - MDCCCIV

The reverse bears view of Cutler Tower. Around, ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS / 1804 ·  ·  · 1954; across, OHIO / UNIVERSITY / SESQUICENTENNIAL / CUTLER / TOWER; signed above exergue, D. MUCHLER

The medal measures 70.2mm in diameter and was struck by the Medallic Art Company of New York. No mintage is reported.

References:   MACo 1954-014

The obverse bears perched American Eagle behind Catholic University's coat of arms. Around, THE · CATHOLIC · UNIVERSITY · OF · AMERICA; in coat of arms, DEUS - MEA / LUX - EST

The reverse bears cross. Around, · CORRIGAN · McCORMICK · McENTEGART · McDONALD · KEANE · CONATY · O'CONNELL · SHAHAN · RYAN ·; across, 1889 - 1964 / DIAMOND - JUBILEE; at top, seven papal names, at bottom, three U.S. cardinal names, GIBBONS / CURLEY / O'BOYLE

The medal's edge is marked MEDALLIC ART CO.N.Y. BRONZE.

At the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1866, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops first discussed the need for a national Catholic university. After Mary Gwendoline Caldwell pledged $300,000 to establish it, Pope Leo XIII sent James Cardinal Gibbons a letter granting permission to establish the university on April 10, 1887. Finally, on March 7, 1889 the Pope issued the encyclical Magna Nobis, granting the university its charter and establishing its mission as the instruction of Catholicism and human nature together at the graduate level.

Today, the Catholic University of America is rated one of the best value colleges in America. To help keep it affordable, the American Cardinals Dinner is put on by the residential U.S. cardinals each year to raise scholarship funds.

The medal measures 70mm and was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company of New York.

References:   MACo 1963-054