Insanely Awesome Laura Gardin Fraser Washington Medal in Gold!
Zoins
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I came upon this somewhat serendipitously and thought it was too awesome not to share.
This medal in gold, silver and bronze was awarded by the POTUS for national essay contests.
This medal in gold was awarded in 1932 to then 16 year old Betty Ann Troy who won the national essay contest run by the U.S. Washington Bicentennial Commission. There were 2 million submissions and Betty Ann won first place.
While Heritage mentions this is likely unique, I have to wonder what medal was give to James R. Moore, the National Winner for Orations Washington: Nation Builder. Orations was listed as "Group I" while Essays were "Group II".
Does the US government still give out medals for essay contests?
This was sold by Heritage in 2018 for $20,000. The owner has turned down offers for up to $37,500.
1932 Washington Birth Bicentennial
Official U.S. Medal in Gold, SP63
Baker-900 Variety, Likely Unique1932 Washington Birth Bicentennial Gold Medal SP63 PCGS Secure. Baker-900 Variety. Gold. 403 gm. 75 mm. Plain edge. Rulau-Fuld (1999) list Baker-900 in bronze, silver, and platinum, the latter unique as such. The gold variety is unlisted, and also likely unique. The sculptor was Laura Gardin Fraser, engraver of several commemorative varieties and wife of Buffalo nickel designer James Fraser. The Baker-900 varieties were official Washington Birth Bicentennial medals struck at the U.S. Mint, and the head-and-shoulders bust of Washington was later used for the 1946 U.S. Assay Medal (JK-AC-91). Only Baker-900C, a bronze 56 mm variety, was sold to the general public. Baker-900A, the bronze 75 mm variety, was distributed as awards in a national essay contest, as was the very rare silver Baker-900B variety. The unique platinum example, Baker-900, was presented to President Hoover.
This gold medal was presented by President Hoover on August 4, 1932 to the Betty Ann Troy, First Award winner in a national essay contest conducted by the U.S. Washington Bicentennial Commission. Troy was a sixteen-year-old student at the Sacred Heart Academy in Stamford, CT. This hefty caramel-gold piece has a matte finish and relatively few imperfections, such as a flat forehead on the standing Liberty, a small field dig beneath ALL, and a small nick on the reverse rim near 6 o'clock. Included with the lot is the original holder, which has a working latch, a navy-blue exterior, a deep blue velvet interior with a slot for the medal, and a cream-white frontispiece with an eight-line inscription in gold letters. Troy's essay was published on page 27 of the Google Books reference Orations and Essays of the George Washington Bicentennial Nationwide Oratorical, Essay, and Declamatory Contests in Schools and Colleges.
Here's a photo of the award:
Here's the essay:
Comments
I have to wonder if Mr. Borckardt asked @MFeld, “Would you like to see something neat/cool”?
An interesting medal indeed! ... and an interesting essay as well but mostly from the perspective of how US historical figures were viewed in 1932 versus how they are viewed now. At the start of the essay we are told that Washington "never tyrannized over others". Hmmmmm? one of the largest slave owners in Virginia "never tyrannized over others"? Somehow I don't think this essay would win the gold medal today.
Agreed. It's important to understand the historical context. It would be interesting to know more about how he treated his slaves.
George Washington did leave instructions in his 1799 will to free all his slaves upon the death of his wife Martha Washington. Martha eventually freed all the slaves before her death as it's not such an easy thing to have so many people waiting for your death.
His will also stated that the estate would take care of those that couldn't take care of themselves and support the education of children whose families couldn't fund their education themselves.
https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/slavery/washingtons-1799-will/
Once more we see people pulling historical figures out of the context of their times and expect them to conform to our values. Progress is mostly made in small steps. Ending slavery required a major jolt, the Civil War, which resulted in much lost treasure and many deaths and maimings.
That's really nice. The medal and the contest. The US mint should be creating award medals for our youth. There's plenty of contests and competitions to address. Can't think of a better way to nurture YNs. Peace Roy
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It would be very interesting to see how Washington's attitude regarding slaves changed over his lifetime. I seem to recall reading several years back that relatively little is known about how Washington viewed slaves in the early years of his life as opposed to at the end of his life. This medal and essay would be a good thought starter for a modern essay assignment for an honors English class in a state where such an assignment wouldn't get the teacher fired. (Isn't it sad that I have include mention of the risk of getting fired for such an assignment?) Any English teachers out there?
That's cool.
Maybe D. Carr can mint a "1933" version?
If you want one, why not ask him directly?
From my understanding, Dan cannot do 75mm medals yet.
He inherited his first slaves at 11 years old when his father died. Going from that to releasing all your slaves seems like a big step in the context of the times.
Fast forward to today, many with firearms get them before they get a driver's license. Imagine asking those people to give them up?
That was an incredible deal when it sold. Not a huge premium over melt, actually.
There were a few that were struck in platinum as well! Somewhere there exists a video in which there is a striking ceremony for one in platinum, and Laura Fraser is in attendance. It shows, up-close, the striking within the press. The medal was eventually gifted to President Hoover and resides at the Hoover Presidential Library in Iowa still today. Unfortunately I can’t find a link to that video any longer.
Here is a uniface pattern. There are some minor details that are different from the design that was chosen - a less prominently extended jaw, for example. This pattern is much closer to the design on the plaster model, which still exists too. This uniface pattern may be the earliest known striking of the Official 1932 Washington Bicentennial medal.
Unless Washington wrote something down somewhere, his early attitudes toward slavery would be pure conjecture. In his youth, slavery was as widely accepted in the South as breathing. To become a wealthy, important planter in the South in the 1700s made slavery a requirement.
There was opposition to slavery in the North, and the discussions came up during the Second Continental Congress. Compromises had to be made to hold the war effort together. The same issues came up during the Constitutional Convention, and once more compromises were made. People like to condemn some of the clauses in the constitution, but they were necessary if the North and the South were going to form a united nation.
As for the freeing of his slaves upon his death, not all of them could be freed. George owned some of them, and Martha owned the others. Therefore their freedom had to wait until she died.
Freeing slaves was not as easy as you might think. A free Black person in the South, wondering around on their own, stood a good chance of getting captured and put right back into slavery. Moving to the North had its drawbacks too. Imagine growing up under a system, sometimes with few marketable skills, and then having to fend completely for yourself in an environment where racial prejudice continued. Dealing with great changes is not as easy as you might think when you really look at the issues.
What a great piece! Wonderful history and photos!
it would be great for the Hoover Presidential Library to have theirs photographed by PCGS
Her husband, James Earl Fraser, designed this medal which was awarded the U.S. soldiers at the end of World War I. The "Ms. Liberty" on the obverse is similar.
That design is what drew me to this piece.
Your medal has a wonderfully preserved ribbon and battle clasps.
I have 1 obverse die and 2 reverse dies for this medal and missed out on another one. Here's my obverse die:
I also have this WWII Victory Medal which is similar, courtesy of @keets!
Martha's slaves were apparently controlled by her during her lifetime but not actually owned by her. At her death they reverted to other members of her family per terms of her original "inheritance". This did not affect the slaves that had been owned by George Washington. Those slaves were freed by Martha about a year before her death. Fortunately for the newly freed slaves they did not have to leave Virginia as they were freed before the 1806 law requiring slaves that were freed in Virginia leave the state with one year.
May we desist on this discussion of slavery, and its rationalizations?
Well, just Love coins, period.
Beautiful medals and good historical contexts. Cheers, RickO
Maybe the size of a cent and made out of zinc?
Both of the Frasers did great work. I wonder how many notable husband and wife metallic teams there have been over time.
I just bought a Laura Gardin Fraser gold medal, I was drawn to the incredible artwork. I also loved the fact that Laura Gardin Fraser was the first women to design a US coin. It was an award medal given to Hellen Hartley Jenkins, by the National Institute of Social Sciences. She was given the medal for Philanthropy, she gave away her family fortune. Interestingly the fortune was acquired by her father by selling arms to the North during the Civil war. Her father also owned the Remington Arms company.
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Wow! That’s a gorgeous medal! Congrats on picking it up and thanks for posting it!
Is this a US Mint medal? I didn’t see a catalog number for it.
Interesting post. Thank you.
No this medal is by the Medallic Art Company of New York, it is marked on the edge.
Here is a link to a film originally by the Medallic Art Company, in this film it shows Laura making a different medal.
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@Tomthecoinguy...That is a really nice gold medal....Cheers, RickO
No it wouldn’t. Most artist resist copying other artists work.
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