All Medals

References:   ANS 20

The medal's obverse bears figure of Levi, facing, holding the Torah, fully lit menorah to his left, Aron Kodesh to his right. At upper left, LEVI

The reverse bears Star of David, symbols and names from all twelve medals. In center, THE / TWELVE / TRIBES OF / ISRAEL

Levi was Jacob's third-born and joined his brother Simeon in the destruction of the city of Shechem. The following quote accompanies this medal in the collector's box:

"Simeon and Levi are a pair; their weapons are tools of lawlessness... I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel."

The tribe of Levi became the scholars that expounded the Torah and rendered decisions through its teachings.

This is the third medal in Elizabeth Weistrop's Twelve Tribes of Israel series. The circular medal measures 43mm in diameter and was struck in bronze and silver by the Medallic Art Company of New York. No mintages are reported.

References:   MACo 1969-100-001, TToI 3

The medal's obverse bears eagle, wings spread, holding branch in talons, facing right. Signed at bottom right, (JOV monogram)

The medal's reverse bears eagle's head in center; under beak, 19 / 87; twelve segments with months around.

1987 was the Bicentennial Year of the U.S. Constitution.  While the anniversary is not explicitly mentioned on the medal, I would not be surprised if the choice of the Eagle were a nod to Jovine's adopted country.

This circular circular medal measures 76mm in diameter and was struck in a variety of materials by the Medallic Art Company of Danbury, Connecticut. No mintages are reported.

Many thanks to CJ Swinko for the excellent photos of the bronze variant.

References:   MACo 1986-175, Cal MA-1987

References:   CoF 3, Marqusee 291

The medal's obverse bears Abraham Lincoln portrait facing right.

The reverse bears Lincoln's log cabin birth place at left and dome of Capitol building at right, sun between them.  palm frond at left, oak leaves at right. Across, CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION / EMANCIPATOR OF A RACE / SAVIOR OF THE UNION / 1909; signed in tiny letters at lower left, THE WHITEHEAD & HOAG CO.

The circular medal measures 50.9mm in diameter and was struck by the Whitehead & Hoag Company of Newark, New Jersey. No mintage is reported.

This was the first Norway medal to be created for the series. The design was probably inspired by the rapid expansion of speculative North Sea oil drilling at the time prompted by the 1973 oil crisis.

The obverse presents a view out to sea with an advancing line of oil drilling platforms in the background. Ung subtly suggests a sea covered by oil slick that has washed up a dead gull on the shore in the foreground. 

The emotive conservationist theme of the obverse is matched by the mother and child design on the reverse. Ung intended this to represent Mother Norway embracing the child of future prospects. The design is thus something of a landmark in nation gendering as Norway at that time did not have the tradition of female allegorical symbols of countries such as Russia (Mother Russia), England (Brittania), and France (Marianne). Ung's design adds the future child, layering in traditional religious icon elements to the design, implying that the present country needs to take care of and protect the future environment. He's followed the tradition of having the mother's gaze fixed on the child who is in turn looking out at the viewer.

References:   NorA NO-1975

The medal's obverse bears brown trout taking a wet fly shown with V-shaped wake.

The reverse bears a "Parmachene Belle" fishing fly. Signed at lower left, (GP monogram) / ©

This medal was selected as the 47th issue of the prestigious Society of Medalists series in 1953. After "Boy Fishing", this was the second fishing-themed medal in the series. As the artist wrote in his lengthy comments accompanying the medal:

"Protagonists of the dry fly and the wet fly will still be giving one another an argument on the day of judgement. To be perfectly unbiased, this medal caters to both."

Apparently both sides liked the medal and it was universally well received by the membership.

The circular medal measures 73mm in diameter and was struck in bronze and silver by the Medallic Art Company. The mintage is reported as 834 pieces in bronze and an unknown number of pieces in silver (from a limited edition of 700).

References:   MACo 1930-001-47, SoM 47

The medal's obverse bears Americans from colonial to modern times walking, riding, and driving around the circumference, with some airplanes mixed in for good measure. In raised circular center, the American Bicentennial logo surrounded by AMERICAN REVOLUTION BICENTENNIAL / 1776 - 1976; signed with artist's (JOV monogram) at top right; at lower right, MACO / © 1975

The reverse bears square calendar panel in center, flanked by the PHiladelphia Christ Church steeple on the left and a launching Saturn V rocket on the right; Eagle holding streamer with THE / BICENTENNIAL / YEAR in its beak on top, Paul Revere on horseback at the bottom; at left bottom of calendar panel, 1976.

The American Bicentennial was a huge marketing extravaganza that caused a multitude of medals to be issued.   Marcel Jovine created a thematically appropripate design in his inimitable circular style. 

This is one of the few Calendar medals that were issued in different sizes.  A limited edition 3.75" medallion was offered to collectors in addtion to the normal 3" medal.  I am not aware of any medals in silver though I would not be terribly surprised to find out that a few had been struck.  The 1970s were a time of sky-high silver prices and 3" silver medals would have represented a significant investment.

References:   MACo 1975-134, Cal MA-1976

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