A Medal Awarded to General George G. Meade.
BillJones
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Although he never gained the reputation as a great military general, George Gordon Meade headed the Union forces in one of the most important battles in American history, Gettysburg. Meade became the leader of the Army of the Potomac after General Joseph Hooker got his butt kicked at Chancellorsville. If darkness had not fallen after Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson raced around and flanked the Union line at Chancellorsville, history might well have turned out differently for the South. That was why Jackson was out at dusk, trying to find a way to press his advantage, when he was fatally shot by his own men.
Meade would not have won any popularity contests. He was called, "an old snapping turtle" by those who knew him, but on July 1-3, 1863 he earned his place in history in the battle that historian view as the turning point of the Civil War. After that Southern defeat, which was capped by Picket's Charge, the South would never again mount an invasion of the North.
In the summer of 1866 the Union League of Philadelphia awarded a massive gold medal to Meade for his leadership at Gettysburg. Something over 100 bronze medals were struck in addition to the a couple in silver and the unique gold piece that was awarded to Meade. Today it is believed that the Philadelphia Union League is holding the Meade medal for the Meade family.
Anthony Paquet designed and executed this piece. It is signed just below Meade's bust. Many consider it to be a very attractive piece ... one of the best designed 19th century American medals, in fact. The piece is listed in Julian's book on 19th century mint medals as PE-20. ("PE" stands for personal medals). I am bit surprised that it is not listed with the military medals.
Comments
So how big is it? How much does it weigh? Diameter?
Whoa very cool writeup and thanks for sharing!!
Many members on this forum that now it cannot fit in my signature. Please ask for entire list.
It's about 3 inches in diameter, 3/8 of an inch thick and weighs about 8 and three quarters ounces.
Excellent piece, Bill. By my favorite American medalist as well.
Anthony Paquet did great work.
Very impressive. How do you research value on these, one of our nutmeg state sellers just sold this Henry Clay medal: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1832-Henry-Clay-HC-1832-1-Political-Medal-/152383202661?hash=item237abf2565:g:brsAAOSwHMJYPc~E&nma=true&si=QbKAmQL1CA5mQ8dKtpQzjQvkYTU%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
Another one of Gilbert Stuart: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1848-Gilbert-Stuart-Artist-Medal-RARE-/152383202689?hash=item237abf2581:g:7eUAAOSw-0xYPcxR&nma=true&si=QbKAmQL1CA5mQ8dKtpQzjQvkYTU%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
Love it! How big is it in MM?
Very nice Bill! Thanks for letting me see it in hand.
Best, SH
That is a great looking medal. Beautiful, rich color.
Like McClellan at Antietam, Meade could probably have pursued and crushed Lee if he had been more aggressive after the failure of Pickett's charge. Nonetheless, he held the line in the face of repeated Confederate assaults. (one of which, Pickett's charge, included my great great uncle, who served under Armistead, and lay wounded on the field for a couple of days until he was hauled off).
Nice medal.
I always thought Meade was one of the underappreciated heroes of the Union.
Not an exceptional military leader but competent and despite his flaws, he was the victor of the greatest battle of the war.
Very nice, that's one of my favorite US medals. Here's a die trial of the reverse sans inscription:
Virtus Collection - Renaissance and Baroque Medals
now that's a very interesting piece, Joe.
Wow, beautiful medal Bill and wonderful die trial Joe!
You can definitely see some nice and amazing things on these forums!
Beautiful medal Bill...thanks for showing us... It looks virtually flawless... Cheers, RickO
3 inches = 76.2 MM
http://www.rapidtables.com/convert/length/inch-to-mm.htm
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@BillJones That is an incredibly sweet medal. It really takes one back to the time it was struck, when the Civil War was truly a recent experience and people knew and appreciated the heroes of the battles.
It also strikes me as a huge medal. Was it common at the time to have such large medals?
Yes. Most all of the medals that were awarded to military heroes were quite large, and the majority of them were made of gold. The medal that was awarded to General Ulysses S. Grant for his victory at Vicksburg, Mississippi, which was at the same time as the Gettysburg Battle, was 105 millimeters in diameter and contained 28.77 ounces of gold. Similar medals were awarded to Generals Winfield Scott and Zachary Taylor for their service in the Mexican War. Huge military award medals were the norm in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Here is the Grant medal in bronze next to a Morgan silver dollar.
That's a pretty amazing piece that you snuck in there Iosephus.
An outstanding medal. Thanks for sharing it.
That die trial is amazing. It is surprising to see what has survived over the years.
Bill, Thanks for posting this info-history lesson.
Gettysburg is on of my favorite places to visit.
An early morning foggy rain makes it so much more solemn to me.
@BillJones My goodness that Grant medal is fantastic. I utterly dwarfs the silver dollar. And containing over a pound and a half of gold...they sure knew how to honor their heroes back then!!
Here is the Grant medal in gold.
- Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106-43 BC
28.77 ounces of gold is incredible. That's almost a kilo at 32.15 ounces.
Do we know how many of the gold ones survive?
The design is outstanding.
The gold medal must have been pretty hefty for him to hold in his hand.
Absolutely glorious!
The workmanship on these "old" medals is incredible. What happened to are mint today
Lafayette Grading Set
Up until about 25 years ago, the mint was still issuing many of these medals, using the original dies or perhaps copies of the original dies. The difference was that they were struck on the sand blasted "yellow bronze" planchets instead of the rich brown colored, often Proofed planchets of the 19th century. Here are couple of examples.
This Jefferson Indian Peace Medal was struck in the mid 19th century. The dies, or at least the reverse die, which is broken, dates from the early 1800s when Lewis and Clark went on their expedition.
Here is a modern piece in "yellow bronze" that I purchased in the 1980s.
The artwork is the same, but the metallic format is totally different.
Wonderful piece, Bill, and exciting and engaging historically, for sure.
Great story about your forebear, Kaz!
Here's a warning parable for coin collectors...
It regards to McClennan and your point above it spawned my favorite Lincoln quote. "My dear McClellan: If you don’t want to use the Army I should like to borrow it for a while.”
Bill great medal and write up
mark
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......