This is a beautiful 40mm medal. 43g of .999 Gold. These are super rare. Very interesting item.
America is depicted as an infant Hercules, strangling two serpents representing the armies of Burgoyne and Cornwallis. He is defended by France, represented as the warrior-goddess Minerva, clad in breastplate and plumed helmet, holding a shield bearing the fleurs de lys of France. She fends off the British lion, which stands with its forepaws upon her shield, its tail between its rear legs, a heraldic symbol of defeat. Dates in exergue.
The Original Medal:
Numismatic scholar John Adams and Massachusetts Historical Society curator Anne Bentley, who is the caretaker of the silver Libertas Americana medal that Jefferson presented to Washington in 1790, have recently completed a thorough accounting of known specimens of this and the similar Comitia Americana series. We look forward to their census, and until its publication we would estimate that perhaps two dozen or so exist, the vast majority of which are in institutional collections. The Libertas Americana medal is most famously associated with Benjamin Franklin, as the designs and legends were the result of his collaboration with other top minds of his era: Robert Livingston, who offered early encouragement; Sir William Jones, the Englishman who suggested a line from Horace be used as the reverse legend; fresco painter E.A. Gibelin, who was the first to sketch Franklin's conception. Of course, it was Franklin's friendship with the top French sculptor of the period, Augustin Dupre, that made the Libertas Americana medal an exceptionally beautiful monument to the American Liberty they both held in great esteem. Guided by Franklin's influence, it was Dupre who conceived the beautiful face of Liberty with flowing tresses that came to be the instantly identifiable face of the new nation. Franklin was very pleased with his creation. He found that Sir William Jones' suggestion for a reverse legend, translated as "The courageous child was aided by the Gods," was perfectly applicable. It was probably Franklin's idea to show the lion, representing Great Britain, with its tail between its legs. When he wrote to Robert Livingston, who served with Franklin on the comittee to create the Declaration of Independence, on April 15, 1783, he reported general satisfaction with the design: "it is mightily well received, and gives general pleasure." He also included a specimen in silver for "the President of Congress" and mentioned that he presented "one in silver to each of the French ministers, as a monumental acknowledgement, which may go down in future ages, of the obligations we are under to this nation." When this letter was written, the President of Congress and the recipient of a silver medal precisely like the one offered here was none other than Elias Boudinot of New Jersey, the man who would become Director of the Mint in 1795. As noted above, Washington also received a silver specimen, Jefferson displayed a specimen at his home (composition unknown), and undoubtedly many men of similar stature in both Europe and America likewise were given specimens in silver. Washington's was included in a set of Comitia Americana medals, and Jefferson may have intended to include Libertas Americana medals in the sets that Congress "directed me to present ... to the different powers of Europe, to the universities of Europe, to certain officers there ..." Indeed, many remain in institutional collections, and silver specimens enter the market only occasionally.
http://legacy.stacks.com/Lot/ItemDetail/105999
