LBs MotD. Washington before Boston, 1776.

[LordBest]

This medal is a 20th century restrike of a medal ordered by congress in 1776 to commemorate the capture of Boston in the Revolutionary War. The original medal was struck in gold in 1790 by the Paris mint, later in the 19th century new dies were created from the originals by the Philadeplhia mint, it is from these dies this medal comes, I am told. The original dies are still at the Paris mint and restrikes have been struck in gold, silver and bronze by them. The Paris mint restrikes are of much higher quality than the American dies due to a great deal of detail being lost with the creation of the new dies.
The original gold medal is at the Boston Public Library, I believe. The best we collectors can do is a plain edge Paris mint restrike, which would be dated c1790-1832.

Obv. Bust of George Washington right, GEORGIO WASHINGTON SVPREMO DVCI EXERCITVVM ADSERTORI LIBERTATIS COMITA AMERICANA [at neck truncation] DU VIVIER / PARIS . F.
Rev. Siege of Boston, HOSTIBUS PRIMO FUGATIS [in exergue] BOSTONIUM RECUPERATUM / XVII MARTII / MDCCLXXVI [at bottom right of canon in the foreground] DU VIV
AE68.
                                                                               LordBest.

[gallienus1]

Washington looks every bit the great American leader that he was in the portrait bust. However, the reverse with him on a prancing horse with his staff looks too European in style. By that I mean it has a kind of artificial grace that I would not expect to see in the inhabitants of a frontier nation fighting for a new society. Of course the artist that created the die probably had never seen a real American, let alone an American general and his staff in the field. All this makes me love the thing even more. Being Australian it often enchants and amazes me how European artists trying to depict Australians and their landscape from the First Fleet right up until the end of the 19th century often got it totally wrong.
Medals like this give such wonderful insights into there time I'm just going to have to start collecting them soon.

Regards,
Steve

[slokind]

Americans (and Australians) have just as much right to appreciate and to employ graceful styles as Europeans and Asians have; after all, we all have Roots, too.  I, too, have an ancestress who crossed the sea as an indentured servant and, out of wedlock, gave me one of my paternal ancestors.  But that doesn't predetermine me.  Of course, Europeans who like folkloric styles also are right to be honest in their own preferences (but our sons have a perfect right to go to Harvard or the like and develop tastes of their own).  Praetermittam mentioning the presidency.
But if there is anything sillier than folkloric style on medals, what could it be?  I cringe to say it, but "lipstick on pigs"?
Pat L.

[LordBest]

Interesting point about the style of engraving, but perhaps it is a by-product of the re-engraved dies rather than the engravers intent? Here is a Paris mint restrike from the original dies to compare.
                                                           LordBest.

[ROMA]

One of the French restrikes actually came up for sale earlier this year. I don't know if there are die variations but it was attributed as Baker 47b; Adams & Bentley, Ch. 3; Julian MI. 1; Stahl 22; Ford II, 50-52. Anyways in that auction listing it was stated that the Adams & Bentley census only records 52 examples in copper. Ofcourse you better add another zero to the price if u want one of the French restrikes 

[gallienus1]

My comments about LordBest’s  medal were about its style, not about its artistic merit or historical value. To me it just doesn’t reflect the American character on the reverse. If you want to strike a medal to commemorate something special to the memory of a people, it should at best, capture something of their spirit. Of course to have a chance of capturing a national spirit you have to be able to feel it yourself. The original French engraver could not be expected to have this particular sensibility and so could not render it. Instead he did what artists have always done when faced with such a task. He made his image in the spirit of the culture and people he knew- the French.
To illustrate my point I have two examples of Australian historical medals (not mine sadly!). The first is to celebrate the products of New South Wales. It is in a Roman imperial style with three female personifications. The first is France looking like Augustus in drag, the second is Australia who it depicted as a clone of Britannia and the third is New South Wales looking like Dante’s Beatrice. Anybody who worked on the land or in the mines at the time would have found this representation of them to be utterly incomprehensible (although they would have recognized the small kangaroo peeking out from behind New South Wales).  The reverse is no better. As an attempt to describe the Australian landscape it is laughable. That is not to say I don’t like the medal or question the right of the makers to draw on their deep cultural Western roots. Placed in the context of its time it is perfectly valid- but it cannot and does not represent the people or the land that it was intended to.
Now take the second medal. It depicts the great Australian pioneer aviator Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith. Here we have the quintessence of the Australian spirit. Rough, ready and determined, often ambitious, but with the saving Australian grace of not taking themselves too seriously. On the reverse we have that big Australian sky.

Regards,
Steve

[LordBest]

Personally I prefer the European style of engraving, though I take your point that it is somewhat difficult to depict Australian in a classical guise when we have no real classical heritage, beyond what we inherited through springing from Britains colonial loins.
                                                              LordBest.

[slokind]

Gallienus 1 has confirmed what my hypersensitized mind (irritated by a political election) sensed in his first posting.  One recently heard talk of 'real Americans', implicitly excluding New Orleanians, San Franciscans, Bostonians, et al.  During World War II all the imagery was unrecognizable to those children, like me, who did not live on the tributaries of the Mississippi River.  I know of Australians, both some I have met and some who contribute to the Australian issues of the TLS, who know the Sydney opera and the literary magazines and may never have seen the Outback, or they have their own response to it, not the stereotype.  That aviator's face, probably derived from a newsphoto, exhibits an egregious misunderstanding of any medallic or monumental art, of a mistaken freezing of the instantaneous.  It makes the eminent aviator look like a professional version of, yes, a hobo nickel.  On the other hand, America's "End of the Trail" (by the sculptor who also did the Indian/Buffalo nickel), if you consent to its pathos, is genuinely statuesque; even the Iwo Jima statue group is (since the photograph was artistically re-posed, which only made it more comprehensible: coherent) memorable.  And, as I said, Americans have all sorts of roots.  A great commemorative 25¢ reverse could be made with a real medallic use of native American or west African masterpieces.
Pat L.

[gallienus1]

Gosh I stir people up! Of course I realize I’m the amateur here, likely to tread on the intellectual toes of board members with vastly greater depth of knowledge on the subjects discussed. But that’s part of the fun of reading the posts.
I love the idea that the Kingsford-Smith medal is in reality a professional version of a hobo nickel. I think he would have been delighted! I can see how this is unsettling to those who have the traditional view of the purpose of a medal. It should be dignified, elegant and timeless, and the classical style is the perfect vehicle for the rendering of such qualities. But I can’t help feeling that many of the great moments in human history were anything but elegant, rarely dignified and often over in an instant.
The Kingsford-Smith medal was made in the early 20th century, a new age where the faster pace of human experience probably made the artist consider that the freezing of the instantaneous was entirely appropriate. Like LordBest’s Washington medal, it is a product of the time and culture that created it. Both are works of art, whether you prefer one over the other is due to individual taste.

Regards,
Steve

[slokind]

You are right: the Great Moments in History are indeed, most of them, like the images evoked by what Leonardo da Vinci is supposed to have said about lovemaking.  Once in a very inexpensive hotel near a railway station I accidentally ran across such a scene on the TV...unsuitable even for spintria.  Not much like the black-and-white photography in Hiroshima, mon amour.  But I'm only teasing now.
Thing is: freeze-frame expression usually goes ill with static media.
I greatly admire Julia Maesa (if for nothing else) for acknowledging her age.  Some look more aged than the one I have (attached)
Pat L.
P.S. And this really IS a matter of preference, not of erudition.  In the second quarter of the 20th century, especially, there were lots of social-realism medallions, not only in North America and Australia but practically everywhere (though I can't think of a French one, but they did use Deco and Moderne).

[gallienus1]

An excellent portrait of Julia Maesa Pat. She must have been sure of her own power and ability to stick with an almost republican realism.

Best regards,
Steve

[moonmoth]

With that image, she could have been saying "I'm no pretty Imperial pin-up. Take me seriously."

[LordBest]

Well, I am a happy camper. Paris mint, die combination 4 going by Stahl, which is dated 'sometime before 1860'. The quality is amazing, far superior to that of the later US mint productions. There is no edge marking which indicates it was struck before 1841, and the suspension hole is interesting as the French mint was producing cases/boxes to store medals as early as the 1820s and holing medals for suspension seems to have been predominately a 1800s-1810s habit. I base this only on my own observation, however.
 I would love to give an approximate date for this medal as 1800-1841 but I have no way of backing the earlier date with any kind of evidence. Whatever the date I am chuffed to have it, as this is probably the earliest striking of this medal I will be able to own, barring some incredible luck on eBay. The 1790s strikings go for over $2000.
                                                        LordBest.

Larger photograph in My Gallery

[gallienus1]

I know I shouldn’t be, but I’m always surprised at how different a work will look with different lighting or at a different angle. In the first image Washington appears to be forthright and confident because his bust is very upright, the angle of the neck being almost vertical and so tilting the face back slightly. In the second medal from the French dies, it is not the engraving that completely changes the character for me, it is the colour and the fact that medal is rotated slightly to the right. The deep red-brown colour gives a more subdued feel and the neck is now about 15 degrees from the vertical making profile of the face itself vertical. The effect for me is to change Washington from the courageous military leader into a thoughtful and understanding human being.
To a lesser extent than this particular medal, the trick of changing perception of the character in an engraved portrait works for me if I rotate any of the better portraits in my coin collection. With the exception of the snarling Caracalla, he looks a monster to me no matter what angle I look at him from! 

Regards,
Steve

[Noah]

I greatly admire Julia Maesa (if for nothing else) for acknowledging her age.  Some look more aged than the one I have (attached)
Pat L.

These are not medals, but I wanted to point out how Pat's observation about Julia Maesa can be seen in modern coinage as well.   With Elizabeth II we can see the progression in age through her coinage.  Not many such examples exist in history...surely not in modern times.  Below you can see this.  BTW, she came to mind since I saw her at the KY Derby here in Louisville this year!

Best, Noah

[LordBest]

You can also  trace the decline in medallic art through the reign of Elizabeth II to some extent. Some of the medals struck for the coronation are near the quality you would see in medals from 1901-1940, but they get progressively worse until the latest medals are just, flat lifeless coins. Quite sad really. I find it interesting that Britain was still producing vaguely decent medals in the 1950s, whereas the undisputed leader of numismatic art, the Paris Medal Mint had fallen into the abyss as early as the 1920s.
                                                          LordBest.