All Medals

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 obverse bears male figure standing at right, wearing chain and plate armor and holding a jousting lance in one hand while resting the other on pommel of sword. Around, ADDRESSOGRAPH MULTIGRAPH TWENTY-FIVE YEAR SERVICE MEDAL; octagonal AM logo at right; inscribed with AWARDED / TO / C. P. RODHOLM / 1946

The reverse bears logo-crested shield with legend IN GRATEFUL / RECOGNITION OF / ABILITY AND LOYALTY / DURING A QUARTER / CENTURY OF / FAITHFUL SERVICE / (signature).

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

Joseph Smith Duncan developed the first Addressograph in 1892. That model consisted of a hexagonal wood block onto which he glued rubber type which had been torn from rubber stamps. While revolving, the block simultaneously inked the next name and address ready for the next impression.

In 1932 the company merged with American Multigraph of Cleveland, Ohio, to form the Addressograph-Multigraph Corporation manufacturing highly efficient addressograph and duplicating machines. In 1982 the company declared bancruptcy, probably because it just could not compete with the electronic publishing and copying industry.

The circular medallion measures 100.3mm and is struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company of New York. No mintage is reported.

References:   MACo 1936-011

The obverse bears conjoined busts of Belgium's King and Queen facing left. Below, streamer with legend FORTISSIMI - SUNT - BELGAE; at bottom, ANS sigil. Around, KING * ALBERT * AND * QUEEN * ELISABETH * OF * THE * BELGIANS; signed (TSS monogram) in lower left field.

The reverse bears channel seascape with low-flying bi-plane, clouds, and flying bird. Around, COMMEMORATING - THEIR - AERIAL - CROSSING - OF - THE - ENGLISH - CHANNEL - JULY - MDCCCCXVIII; signed below waves, T. SPICER-SIMSON

The medals are edge-stamped MEDALLIC ART CO. N.Y. and inscribed with a number.

This medal was the 37th official issue of the American Numismatic Society. It commemorates the flight of the king and queen of Belgium to England on the occasion of King George and Queen Mary's silver anniversary. The celebrations took place in London on July 6th, 1918.

The latin quote on the obverse is an abbreviation from the opening paragraph of Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic War—"(Horum eorum) fortissimi sunt Belgae", meaning "The bravest of these are the Belgians." It is easy to forget that the year was 1918 and World War I was still being fought in Europe. Flying across the Channel by itself was not yet a common endeavor, but doing it during an active war was certainly a display of courage that cold not help but boost morale.

The medal measures 63.8mm (2.5in) and was struck by the Medallic Art Company of New York in bronze and silver. As with all early ANS medals, the mintage is very low; 1 medal was struck in gold, only 97 medals were struck in silver and 136 in bronze. Originally, the silver medals were sold for $10 and the bronze medals for $5.

References:   ANS 37, Baxter 282, MACo 1918-009, Marqusee 365

References:   MACo 1971-013-013, WR 13

References:   BG 13

The plaque bears Evarts Tracy seated in relaxed pose, l., holding cigarette or pen in one hand.  At left top, EVARTS - TRACY / APRIL - TENTH / MCMXII; signed at bottom right, (HH monogram) / FECIT

Evarts Tracy (1868-1922) was a renowned New York architect who also distinguished himself in World War I.  After commanding a regiment of combat engineers and getting wounded, he was put in charge of camouflage training at the Army Engineer School at Langres. At the end of the war he was in charge of all camouflage sections of the majority of the Allies' western front.  General Pershing recommended him for the Distinguished Service Medal, which he was awarded shortly before his death in 1922.

The relief plaque measures 176mm x 132mm. It is not known how many copies exist.

References:   Baxter 228

The uniface medal bears a winged female figure, facing, standing on a disk or globe, holding a sword and a sheaf of wheat, symbolizing the harvest of souls and the separation of the righteous from the the wicked; wreath extending from disk to both sides. Around bottom, VIXIT · VICIT · VIVET

The medal was commissioned by the city of Detroit to honor the fallen veterans of World War I. Manship created several designs, this being the first. The design that was finally chosen can be seen here.

The Latin motto translates roughly to "[They] lived, [they] conquered, [they] shall live."

The circular medal measures 67.5mm in diameter and was cast in bronze.

References:   Marqusee 331

References:   Cal HM-1997