All Medals

The medal's obverse bears bust of Abraham Jacobi facing left. Around top, A · JACOBI · MD; around bottom, · M C M X · ; signed under truncation, MOWBRAY CLARKE

The reverse bears wreath and legend, · PRESENTED · / · IN · CELEBRATION · OF · HIS · / · FIFTY · YEARS · OF · SERVICE · / AT / · MT · SINAI · HOSPITAL · / · BY · THE · ASSOCIATED · / ALUMNI · / MDCCCLX / MCMX ·

Dr. Abraham Jacobi (1830-1919) was a German physician and pioneer of pediatrics, opening the first children's clinic in the United States. After studying medicine in Germany, he was involved in the 1848 revolution and served time in jail before leaving his home country for England in 1853. In exile, he lived with Karl Marx and Freidrich Engels before setting sail for the U.S. in 1854.

To date, he is the only foreign-born president of the American Medical Association. He helped found the American Journal of Obstetrics and is regarded as the Father of American Pediatrics.

The circular medal measures 50.9mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company of New York. No mintage is reported.

References:   MACo 1910-003

The obverse bears winged angel of mercy above two seated figures, a female representing poverty with face uplifted at left and a male representing crime, with shackled hand at right. In exergue, · ISSUED · BY · THE · AMERICAN · NUMISMATIC · / · AND · ARCHAEOLOGICAL · SOCIETY · / · NEW · YORK ·; signed at lower right, V D BRENNER 98

The reverse bears an oak tree at right with branches and foliage extending across entire field to left. Over foliage, nineteen-line inscription, · TO · COMMEMORATE · / · THE · SESSION · OF · THE · 25TH · / · NATIONAL · CONFERENCE · OF · / · CHARITIES · AND · CORRECTION · / · IN · THE · CITY · OF · NEW · YORK · / · MAY · 18TH · 25TH · 1898 · / · PRESIDENT · / · WILLIAM · RHINELANDER · STEWART · / · NEW · YORK · / · VICE · PRESIDENTS · / · CHARLES · R · HENDERSON · · THOMAS · E · ELLISON · / · CHICAGO · · FORT WAYNE · / · ISAIAH · JOSEPHI · / · NEW · YORK · / · TREASURER · / · LEVI · L · BARBOUR · DETROIT · / · GENERAL · SECRETARY · / · HASTINGS · H · HART · / · ST. PAUL ·; signed at lower right, V.D.BRENNER

The circular medal measures 77mm in diameter and was struck in bronze, silver and gold. The reported mintages are 1 gold piece, 30 pieces in silver and 253 pieces in bronze.

References:   ANS 12, Baxter 118, Marqusee 85

The medal's obverse bears view of Pharos of Alexandria with its entrance guarded by two giant statues and a sailing vessel behind.

The reverse bears three calendar panels ornamented with sea shells and flanked by mermaids. At top of middle panel, 2000

The Pharos of Alexandria was named after the Nile delta island on which it was located, "Pharao's Island." It was a lighthouse that used a giant fire at night and bronze mirrors by day to signal the location of the entry to the Nile river. It is estimated that the signal was visible across a distance of 34 to 300 miles!

This is the third medal in a little calendar medal sub-series about the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World.

The circular medal measures 76.2mm in diameter and was struck in bronze and silver by the Medallic Art Company of Dayton, Nevada. No mintages are reported. The medals were originally available for $34.95 per bronze and $169 per silver piece.

References:   Cal MA-2000

References:   MACo 1930-001-038, SoM 38

This medal's obverse bears a male figure with wings affixed to his outstretched arms, four different methods of manned flight in background: a hot air balloon, a dirigible, and two early-model airplanes.

The reverse bears bird in flight. Across center, PROGRESS / IN / AVIATION / CHICAGO NUMISMATIC SOCIETY / MEDALLIC SERIES / MCMX

The second art medal issued by the Chicago Numismatic Society (the precursor to the Chicago Coin Club) was dedicated to Aviation. In the early 20th century Chicago was one of the hotbeds of aviation engineering. Thus it came as no big surprise that it was decided to pick Progress in Aviation as the theme for an art medal. Carl Schrieber won the competition for the design of this medal.

The circular medal measures 51mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by Whitehead & Hoag of Newark, New Jersey. The reported mintage in bronze is 200 pieces. The silver pieces were struck later, possibly by the U.S. Mint. No mintage is reported.

The medal's obverse bears unicorn rampant, facing left. To its right, TO / THE / DREAMERS / OF / DREAMS; signed between tail loop, (JOV monogram)

The reverse bears clendar panel flanked by male figure with hound at left and female figure with sword at right; two snails below.  On banner at top, egi quod potui; above calendar panel, MCMLXXXII; below, 1982

The medal's obverse is identical to Jovine's Society of Medalists medal that was issued two years before. That medal had proved to be a hugely popular design and I guess the Medallic Art Company was looking for a way to extend the design's commercial usefulness.

This medal appeas to have been offered to corporate clients with customized edge lettering.  Please let me know what variants you encounter.

The circular medal measures 76.1mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company of Danbury, Connecticut. No mintage is reported.

References:   MACo 1981-054, Cal MA-1982

References:   Murtha 212

The obverse bears standing Liberty, facing, holding long sword in her right and flaming torch of Freedom in her left hand; in background, clouds and rising sun. Around bottom, ALIS VOLAT PROPRIIS

The reverse bears wreath of laurels at left and oak leaves at right. In center, LA / REPUBLICA MEXICANA / EN EL / PRIMER · CENTENARIO / DE LA / PROCLAMACION · DE / SU · INDEPENDENCIA / 1810 - 1910; signed at lower left, TIFFANY & CO

Mexico marks its independence from Spain with the beginning of the armed struggle against colonial rule. On September 16, 1810, the secular Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo called independence fighters and indigenous inhabitants of Dolores to take up arms against the government. The armed struggle ended 11 years later with the formal declaration of independence on September 27, 1821.

The Latin phrase on the obverse translates to:

"She flies with her own wings,"

a phrase popular with independence movements and coincidentally also the state motto of Oregon.

The circular medal measures 90.1mm in diameter and was struck in bronze and silver by Tiffany & Co. of New York. No mintage is reported.

References:   Marqusee 385

The medal's obverse bears sword and shield bearing allegorical female figure representing France astride, facing half rightl shield emblazoned with RF; light beans emanating from behind her head; background composed of masses of small soldiers and war machinery, including airplanes and artillery.  Around, · TO · COMMEMORATE · THE · DEFENCE · OF · VERDUN - 1916 ·

The reverse bears two towers of castle fortifications with bridge and moat flanked by French soldiers crossing bayonet-equipped rifles in front of city; female figure carrying laurel crown and trumpet flying above; in exergue, Verdun's coat of arms and streamer reading · ILS · NE · PASSERONT · PAS ·; signed in exergue around bottom right, PAUL MANSHIP ©

The Battle of Verdun lasted from 21 February to 18 December 1916. For 303 days French and German forces battled back and forth, waging the longest and one of the most costly battles in human history. An estimate in 2000 found a total of 714,231 casualties, 377,231 French and 337,000 German, for an average of 70,000 casualties a month; other recent estimates increase the number of casualties to 976,000 during the battle, with 1,250,000 suffered at Verdun during the entire war. In the end, the German advance fell short and the citadel of Verdun became the symbol of a bloody defensive victory.

Congress authorized a special gold medal honoring the sacrifice of the citizens of the French city of Verdun during World War I. The Commission of Fine Arts held a limited competition for medal designs in early 1920, and this medal is one of Paul Manship’s proposed designs.  The alternative design is titled "Defense of Verdun Medallion"; notice the American variant of the spelling of "defense".

The French phrase on the reverse translates to the famous slogan that became associated with the battle of Verdun: "They shall not pass!"

The spelling of "Defence" in the medallion's title is intentional and follows the lettering on the medal. For some reason Manship picked the British variant of "defense" for this medal.

The circular medal measures 103mm in diameter and was cast in bronze.