All Medals

The medal's obverse bears Ford logo under nine stars. Around bottom, 75TH ANNIVERSARY

The reverse bears early motor carriage in front of first company building. Around, DIAMOND JUBILEE / 1903 (star) 1978

The circular medal measures 63.4mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company of Danbury, Connecticut. No mintage is reported.

The medal's obverse bears a nude with lyre in front of Pegasus; signed GAETANO CECERE 1931.

The reverse bears a grouping of transmission towers, lightning bolts, and wings, surrounded by wreathes and text in concentric circles. Legend reads FOR DISTINGUISHED CONTRIBUTION TO THE RADIO ART | OVER THE COLUMBIA BROADCASTING SYSTEM.

The medal was awarded "for Distinguished Contribution to Radio" and by 1934 only six people had received it. They were: Colonel Charles Lindbergh, Sir John A. Reith, director general of the BBC, Leopold Stokowski, conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Amelia Earhart, Nino Martini, Metropolitan Opera tenor, and Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd, Antarctic explorer.

The medal is part of many museum collections, including the Smithsonian Institute, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Cornell University Library, which has a beautiful image online.

The circular medallion's diameter is 102mm and it was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company of New York.  No mintage is reported.

References:   MACo 1931-017, Marqusee 104

The medal's obverse bears female figure guiding a child holding architectural model onward. Across, SCHOOL - ART / LEAGUE - OF / NEW · YORK - CITY; in exergue, FOR · MERIT

The reverse bears a tree or shoot with three branches at top and some new growth at bottom. Across, ART · IN · TRADES / CLUB - MEDAL / AWARD-ED · TO / (inscribed) FRANCES McKENNA; at top, incribed 1926; signed at bottom, G. CECERE

This medal is also called the "Art in Trades Club Medal," after the inscription on the reverse. The circular medal measures 66.5mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Gorham Manufacturing Company of Providence, Rhode Island.

References:   Marqusee 106

The medallion's obverse bears, within decorated border, seated young woman holding a banner before a sky of stars and one falling star to her right. On banner, COMET ENGRAVING CO. / ESTABLISHED 1898 / CHICAGO

The reverse bears, within same decorated border, ENGRAVERS / AND / DESIGNERS / OF / EMBOSSIN / AND / STAMPING / DIES / IN / BRASS / AND / STEEL

The Comet Engraving Company was founded in 1898 by German immigrant Jacob “Honest Jake” Salg. The company, now named Comet Die & Engraving Company, is still under family management: two of Salg's great grandsons are managing it as of 2017.

This is a beautiful medal, probably designed as a showcase of Comet's work. Based on the lettering I would date it to the 1930's or 1940's, but I'd love to learn more about it.

The circular medallion measures 82.4mm in diameter. It was probably designed and struck in-house by the Comet Engraving Company.

The medal's obverse bears portrait of Simon J. Murphy, Sr., facing. Around, SIMON J. MURPHY / 1815 - 1905; signed under truncation at right, Eue

The reverse bears a view of the Penobscot Building. Above, PENOBSCOT; over smaller building in background, 1915; below, 1927 1905

Simon J. Murphy Sr. (1815-1905) was a Maine businessman who started out as a logger and ended up in control of vast lumber lands in Michigan and all over America.  He started the take-over of the Pacific Lumber Company, which succeeded two months after his death. The buildings on the reverse are located in Detroit's financial district.

The circular medal measures 76.1mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Whitehead-Hoag Company of Newark, New Jersey. No mintage is reported.

This medal's obverse bears modernized head of Arethusa, wearing winged and eagle-headed helmet with motto I WILL, facing left. Around, C · C · C · 50TH · ANNIVERSARY - 1919 1969; signed under truncation, © T · A · ROVELSTAD · 1968

The reverse bears the six Winter Hexagon stars and Betelgeuse in the middle. Around edge, CHICAGO · COIN · CLUB / DOCENDO DISCIMUS; inside stars, conjoined CCC logo surrounded by ORGANIZED 1919 · / INCORPORATED 1938; signed with (TR monogram)

The 50th anniversary of the Chicago Coin Club was celebrated January 8, 1969 with a banquet at Harding's Restaurant. The 77 in attendance had only one regret - that the bad weather kept many away. Trygve Rovelstad had been asked to create the corresponding anniversary medal and picked the head of his proposed Arethusa statue for the design. The medal's reverse was designed to be usable for future Club medals. Apparently, a quantity of nickel-silver and silver uniface medals were struck to have a cache of engravable medals on hand.

This is a very handsome medal and definitely one of the nicest Coin Club issues of modern times. Too many coin clubs issue medals with relatively boring busts of club presidents whereas this design is truly worthy of being immortalized on a medal.

The circular medal measures 57mm in diameter and was struck in bronze and silver by the Medallic Art Company of New York. The reported mintage is 182 pieces in bronze and 113 pieces in silver. The bronze medals originally cost $5 and the the silver medals $20 and were sold to members only.

References:   MACo 1968-136

The medal's obverse bears Mercury opening the canal locks for ship Argo. Around, · TO · COMMEMORATE · THE · OPENING · OF · THE · PANAMA · CANAL · M · C · M · X · V; at bottom left, "ON! / SAIL ON!"; signed at bottom right, AITKEN / FECIT

The medal's reverse bears two female figures, representing the two Americas, sharing cornucopias; globe in center, flying birds below. Around, · PANAMA · PACIFIC · INTERNATIONAL · EXPOSITION · SAN · FRANCISCO · CALIFORNIA · M · C · M · X · V ·

The circular medal measures 38mm in diameter and was struck in different materials. They are all "So-called Dollars."  The bronze variant is known as HK-400, the gold-plated one as HK-401.

Many thanks to Eugene and Lu Anne Freeman who granted me permission to use images from their eBay store.

References:   HK 399,400,401

The medallion's obverse bears portrait of younf Maxfield Parrish, facing right. Around, at left and right, · MAXFIELD · / · PARRISH ·

The reverse bears rearing Pegasus facing right before sun.

Maxfield Parrish (1870-1966) was an American painter and illustrator active in the first half of the 20th century. He is known for his distinctive saturated hues and idealized neo-classical imagery.

Parrish and Manship were both members of Augustus Saint-Gaudens' Cornish Art Colony in Cornish, New Hampshire. Saint-Gaudens had started the art colony in 1885 and attracted a group of friends, assistants, promising young art students and hangers-on.  Parrish and his wife moved to Cornish in 1898 and built a home that was later nicknamed "The Oaks."  The home was surrounded by beautiful landscapes that inspired many of Parrish’s drawings.

The art colony started falling apart after Saint-Gaudens' death in 1907 but Parrish and Manship had another geographical location in common.  Both shared a love for the Cape Anne area of Massachusetts. Parrish had lived in Annisquam for a while and Manship fell in love with the areas as well and bought a vacation home in Gloucester.

The circular medallion measures around 84mm in diameter and is cast in bronze. The depicted medallions are early designs.  In the finished medallion Pegasus is more detailed and the reverse is signed and dated.

References:   Murtha 65

References:   MACo 1934-023, Murtha 335