1904 St. Louis Exposition Gold Medal seeking input and opinions on paperwork
Weiss
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Posted this new pickup in @bolivarshagnasty 's bald eagle post. This piece is by Adolph Weinman, better known for the Walking Liberty half dollar and ASE design:
In the original box with paperwork. There is at least one other example out there with the description/composition leaflet, so I believe this to be something that likely accompanied these at their release.
But the second piece has me stumped. It's written in French. Of course the exhibition was celebrating the Louisiana Purchase from France, and was held in St. Louis, so the French seems just a fun affectation.
It says: le diplome sera envoye ulterieurement et gratuitement
Which google translates as "the diploma will be sent later and free of charge" which seems like it could mean something closer to "Your medal will be sent later and free of charge".
So I'm wondering if this was a voucher given to the winner so they didn't have to haul around a medal at the exhibition or if the exhibition maybe didn't have all of the medals at the time of the show?
FWIW: There is a corresponding exhibit number at least in the art section of the event. It's a work called "New Brielle, Holland" by the New York artist Alexander Schiller.
Any ideas? Am I really far off? Completely unrelated? Or is this a thing?
--Severian the Lame
Comments
I don't recall seeing the original boxes before. Nice medals!
There may have been an award certificate that came with the medals, though I have never seen one.
I have one of the "Gold" Medals in the Original Box, but the box is not as nice as this. Louisiana Purchase Exposition Prize Medals were all in bronze, but different shapes. I have been told (by several persons) that the prize medals were produced in much greater quantities than were actually required, and that they were a drug on the resale market for many many years.
My gut is that award "Diplomas" came later because they had to be inscribed with names and perhaps cities and countries. Calligraphy and all, one supposes...
My Gold Medal (the box is pretty shot) and "Silver" Medal (no box):
Your thread title says "gold medal' but it appears to be bronze. What's the actual composition? Very neat and artistic medal.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
Those are beautiful medals.. great artwork on both....Amazing that the boxes have survived in such good condition. I have no idea of value or how to authenticate the paperwork.... Good luck with your quest. Cheers, RickO
All the award medals, including those for the Philippines Exhibit, were struck in bronze with the differentiation being the shape of the medal (shield, square or round). Now and then you will find examples that have been silvered but most people familiar with the series (including Hendershott) do not believe that the plating was official in any way. All of the silvered pieces that I have handled were bought in England along with regular bronze examples. Some of the award medals have edge inscriptions as they were also used to recognized the judges and other officials. The Philippines examples are much more elusive.
Yes, there were printed diplomas (award certificates) that went along with the award medals. There was also an independently organized display of French industrial machinery that issued medals; they are not marked as award medals but possibly could have been used as award or recognition pieces. In addition, there are two Paris Mint struck bronze medals that show up very often -- Eric Newman had a hoard of the larger sized French medal in his estate which were offered in many groups of five or ten slabbed pieces.
Thanks, @tokenpro
I was digging deeper and found examples of the "diplomas" associated with these medals. Note the second example below actually uses that specific terminology:
--Severian the Lame
Interesting to note the accompanying literature says the design by Weinman was approved by a committee of J.Q.A. Ward (John Quincy Adams Ward), Daniel C. French, and Augustus St. Gaudens. All three were prominent American sculptors of the age.
--Severian the Lame
there were four award classes, so four medals, all Bronze even though they are described as Silver, Gold, Bronze and Grand. I don't recall the number issued/struck although I have it written down somewhere. the shapes were square, triangular, round and in the shape of a shield. the first three are relatively common while the last, the shield shape, is quite scarce and not offered for sale very often. most all the medals show some sign of impairment, from corrosion and unsightly tone to rim dings and slight, high point rub from storage.
looking for gem quality examples is time consuming and competitive, but the design is very exquisite and worth owning. the problem, as with many medals, is long term safe storage which means that encapsulation is a good alternative for protection.
Any idea on current values for the grand prize version? Haven’t been able to locate any results from last few years.
Thank you for sharing pictures of the boxes...don't see those very often.
These are gorgeous medals.
Here's my bronze.
Prices have been going up.
I'd check on Heritage and Stack's for realized auction prices.
Great looking medals and cool to have the original boxes...I have no idea on value.
The 1904 World’s Fair was massive. It is hard to imagine today, but nothing before or since has really been on that scale for a temporary event except perhaps some of the Olympics games. It covered 1200 acres (for comparison, Disneyland is only about 500 acres) and was attended by about 20 million people. The population of the US at the time was only about 82 million.
semi-old thread alert
The accompanying diplomas have been brought up in this thread. I don’t know how often they show up for sale, but a seller has two up for sale now on ebay. (I don’t have any connection to the seller). Very beautiful medals and diplomas!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/LOUISIANA-EXPO-ST-LOUIS-EXPOS-GOLD-MEDAL-FREDERICK-STARR-ORIGINAL-1904/254827569640?hash=item3b54e821e8:g:lGwAAOSwH9Vf9k02