All Medals

The octagonal medal's obverse bears bearded male figure rendered in Assyrian style holding scepters or staffs in each hand, seated on ornamented chair, facing right. To his right, arranged in rhombic
shape, (kuneiform) / Α Ρ / Χ Α Ι / Ο Λ Ο / Γ Ι Α / (kuneiform); signed in half circle under bottom kuneiform, A LAESSLE ∙; all surrounded by ornamental border combining Greek, Egyptian, and Assyrianstyles; all bordered by raised rim.

The reverse bears two stylized branches flanking legend, THE / UNIVERSITY ∙ OF / PENNSYLVANIA /
FOR MERIT IN ARCHI / TECTURAL ORNAMENT / 1938 / BRYDEN BORDLEY HYDE

Bryden Bordley Hyde (1914-2001) was a Baltimore architect who became well-known for his efforts in preservation. In 1961 he took apart his family's 22-room, mid-19th-century home, Evesham, and moved it from Govans to Gibson Island. When demolition threatened a Bladensburg mansion built in 1749 and once owned by Dr. David Ross, a surgeon in George Washington's army, Hyde helped dismantle it and rebuild it in Cockeysville. He stuck the 22,000 original bricks back together with mortar made with a historically accurate additive: oyster shells. Both projects brought him awards from the Baltimore chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

He fought in World War II as a captain in the 8th Armored Division and was an avid collector of antiques, a hobby he managed to pursue, according to family lore, even under enemy shelling.

Albert Laessle created a little gem with this medal.  He married the medal's design perfectly to its purpose. While no mintage is reported, the bronze variant seems to be pretty rare. The Smithsonian American Art Museum is in posession of a silver variant that came from Albert Laessle's family and is probably even rarer.

The octagonal medal measures approximately 51mm x 51mm and was struck in bronze and silver by Jos. K. Davison of Philadelphia.

Many thanks to Peter James Fowler who took the beautiful images of the bronze medal. He runs two eBay stores at jamcupboard and woodenships7.

The medal's obverse bears portrait of Sir Winston Churchill, facing. To his left, THE RIGHT / HONOURABLE / WINSTON / CHURCHILL; signed to left, E.R. GROVE / © 1966 PAM

The reverse bears anchored ship with sailors throwing a life preserver in the water; in background pinnaces full of soldiers, ominous pillar of smoke, water fountains from aerial bombardment, planes circling in the sky. In exergue, DUNKIRK / MAY 26 - JUNE 4 / 1940

Dunkirk was just recently (2017) commemorated by a movie that beautifully illustrated the precarious situation in which the British and French troops found themselves in the spring of 1940.  The German army had surrounded the British Expeditionary Forces and large parts of the French Army in Dunkirk. A surrender of the allied forces seemed inevitable and would almost certainly have allowed Hitler to shift significant resources to the Eastern Front, spelling total disaster for the Allies. Instead, with the help of a large flotilla of civilian vessels, the Allies managed to evacuate over 330,000 troops from the beaches. While the loss of materiel was huge, many soldiers survived to fight another day and a devastatiing blow to morale was avoided.

Churchill, who had only become Prime Minister a few days earlier managed to recast the evacuation as a triumph and rally the country behind the war effort. In his own famous words:

"We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender."

The circular medal measures 44.3mm in diameter and was struck in bronze and silver by the Medallic Art Company of New York on behalf of Presidential Art Medals, Inc.

References:   MACo 1966-001-001, WWII 1

References:   Murtha 473

References:   Murtha 465

The medal's obverse bears portrait of Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, facing right; to left, crown over E; signed at lower right, Alfred Courtens / 1953

The reverse bears recessed cross. Across, SA MAJESTE / LA REINE ELISABETH / PRESIDENTE D'HONNEUR / DE LA CROIX-ROUGE / DE / BELGIQUE; engraved, Melle  D. FRISON / 1917 - 1968

Queen Elisabeth of Belgium was the honorary chairwoman of the Belgian Red Cross for many decades.

The circular medal measures 69.9mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by Jules Fonson and Company. No mintage is reported.

The medal's obverse bears bust of Seligman facing left. Around, · EDWIN · (branch) · R · A · (branch) · SELIGMAN * · MCMX · ; signed under truncation, MOWBRAY / CLARKE

The reverse bears mostly legend. In center, (rosetta) / · SCHOLAR · / · TEACHER · / · CITIZEN · / (laurel branches); around, · TO · COMMEMORATE · TWENTY FIVE · YEARS · OF · SIGNAL · DEVOTION · TO · THE / COMMON · GOOD

Edwin Robert Anderson Seligman (1861–1939), was an American economist who spent his entire academic career at Columbia University in New York City. Seligman is best remembered for his pioneering work involving taxation and public finance. He was one of the editors of the Political Science Quarterly and a founder of the American Economic Association.  During World War I he was a vocal advocate of a progressive income tax to fund the government.

The circular medal measures 63.7mm in diameter and was struck by Jos. K Davison of Philadelphia.  No mintage is reported.

The obverse bears head of mother with closed eyes holding her child with long hand supporting head. Along left and right edges, PRO / PATRIA

The reverse depicts Prometheus chained to rock at ankles and wrists, attacked by eagle. At top, left, and right, PRO / HVMANI / TATE (mark composed of crossed flaming torches over bar); signed below, Joseph E. Renier. Sc. / ©

Renier dedicated this medal to "all those who contriute their something to life." He wrote in the medal's brochure:

"The underlying theme of this medal is the devotion of womanhood and manhood to country and to humanity. "

1941 was the year America officially entered World War II and the theme of "sacrifice" and "devotion" was lay heavily on people's minds. Prometheus' "For Humanity" applies to the legen just as it applied to how American's saw their involvement in the war.

This medal was chosen as the 23rd issue of the prestigious Society of Medalists series in 1941. It measures 73mm in diameter and was produced by the Medallic Art Company of New York which struck 849 pieces in bronze and 100 in silver.

References:   MACo 1930-001-023, Marqusee 330, SoM 23

The medal's obverse bears American eagle holding arrows and olive branch in its talons on shield over crossed cannon barrels and fasces; large round knob at top.

The reverse bears a scroll for dedication and two protruding bearings, unholed.

It is unknown whether Manship created this design for a commission, a design competition, or independently from a sense of patriotic fervor. Manship certainly was a fierce patriot who did what he could to support the war effort. The exact date for this design is also not known but one of the other designs, the Army Valor decoration, has a sample date of 1918 inscribed on the reverse.  They all date roughly to the end of World War I, probably 1918 or 1919.

The cast bronze measures approximately 64.3mm x 79.5mm and weighs 251.7g.

References:   CoF 3, Marqusee 291

The obverse bears bust of Franklin, left. Around, BENJ. FRANKLIN NATUS BOSTON. XVII JAN. / MDCCVI; signed on truncation, DUPRE. F

The reverse bears nude winged genius, broken crown and scepter at his feet, lightning striking towards rotunda at left. Around, ERIPUIT COELO FULMEN - SCEPTRUM QUE TYRANNIS; in exergue, SCULPSIT ET DICAVIT / AUG. DUPRE ANNO / MDCCLXXXIV

The latin legend around the reverse can be translated to "He seized lightning from the heavens and the scepter from tyrants." The legend in the exergue translates to "Engraved and dedicated by Augustin Dupré in the year 1784"

Franklin had been sent to Paris in 1776 to negotiate an alliance with France and had quickly become a hugely popular figure. Adams and Bentley conclude that this medal was sponsored by a private friend (or group of friends) to honor him.

A second medal, also engraved by Dupré, was issued two years later. Both medals share the same obverse die and the same reverse inscription, but where the earlier medal features the winged genius on the reverse, the later one merely features an oak wreath. That later version was sponsored by Louis XVI.

As with many of the early American medals that were originally struck in France, there are numerous later restrikes.  I do not yet have the expertise to distinguish an early original from a later restrike. Maybe someone with the requisite experience can help out. If I'm correct, this medal is usually referred to as Betts-619.