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A Centennial Cabinet

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ISBN 978-1-105-77531-4

Edition of 11 November 2013 (Veterans’ Day)

Baselined from the online version CM 131126.

ISBN 978-1-105-77531-4.

9 781105 775314

90000

Configuration Management 131119

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Acknowledgements

It has been said that too many cooks spoil the soup. Not so! This concoction is the end product of more fine numismatists than I can ever name, and every one contributed his or her own indispensible piece de resistance.

So here goes....

Dave Baldwin	John Markham
Nancy Bercaw	Levi Masker
Bowers and Merena Auctions	Jane Miller
Gene Brandenburg	Steve Nathan
Daniel R. Brown	Chris Papadakis
Tom Brown	Bill Parron
Jonathan Brecher	St. Marie’s Coin Club
Richard DeLeo	Dave Schenkman
Tom DeLorey	Erica Schlather
Dick Doty	Matthias Schmitt
Ed Erickson	Jeff Shevlin
Nancy Green	Bob Slawsky
Hallenbeck Coin Gallery	Eric Spencer
Kristy Hansen	Stacks Auctions
Heritage Auctions	Stacks Bowers Auctions
Fred Hilken	Terry Stahurski
Fred Holabird	Stacey Swigart
Wayne Homren
Gene Hynds
Gabriel Iliescu
Dick Johnson
Malcolm Jones
Andy Kaufman
Anthony Kim
Rusty King
Ed Kucia
iNumis.com
Joe Levine
Jon Mark

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Table of Contents (Listed by Filename)

Introduction

Title Page and Copyright Dedication and Acknowledgements Table of Contents Introduction Preface Prologue The Cabinet

National Commemoratives Declaration of Independence Centennial Awards The Centennial Exhibition Exhibition Visitors Exhibition Buildings Struck at the Exhibition Centennial Woods Organizations Foreign

Historical Figures Historical Events Patriotic S5mibols Personal

1876 Centennial?

Appendices

Holland’s 1876 Listing Frossard’s 1876 Listing Cross-references Glossary

American Revolution Chronology Alloys

Diameter Conversions Bibliography

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Introduction

The Cabinet

Just as a book is made up of chapters that hold words, a cabinet contains drawers that hold collectibles. This is a cabinet of Centennial medals, and each drawer holds a different category of medal.

Medal vs. Token

The distinction between medals and tokens is so blurred that they often appear to be synonymous. A dealer once told me in response to my question that he couldn’t define the difference, but he knew which was which when he saw one. Since this volume includes medals but excludes tokens, it becomes important to know the difference, if only within this cabinet.

Let’s start with the definitions that the American Numismatic Association uses in their exhibit competition rules. Class 3, the Medals category, includes “Medallic items not used as a medium of exchange, or not having trade value” Class 4, the Tokens category includes “Items, including encased postage, issued unofficially as a medium of exchange for goods and services or for advertising purposes, but excluding American colonial items included in class 1 (United States Coins). Includes substances used in lieu of metal, other than paper.” “Wearable” medals are included in Class 5, the military medals, decorations, orders and badges category, thus seeming to be excluded from the Medals category. Nevertheless, such medals are included in this volume, since 1 consider the distinction of wearability to be meaningless; because many of the Centennial souvenir medals were issued holed and unholed, looped and unlooped, offering the obvious option of being worn by the proud new owner.

What’s good enough for the ANA is good enough for me. This cabinet concentrates on medals, for the simple reason that Centennial medals have as their primary purpose the commemoration of the United States Centennial. Tokens, on the other hand, have as their primary purpose the conduct of business during which the Centennial presented itself first as an advertising opportunity and secondarily as an historic occasion.

For example, this cabinet includes what 1 call the Linng medals (mules of the nine Centennial designs produced by Lingg Brothers Jewelers), but excludes the myriad of Linng tokens with their Centennial obverses and businesses advertising on the reverses.

The previous statement points up another distinguishing characteristic between medals and tokens. Medal collectors refer to the image side of a medal as the obverse; the inscription side, the reverse. Token collectors on the other hand consider the merchant’s (i.e., business-card) inscription side as the obverse, because tokens are typically collected by merchant. Thus, a token collector would refer to the inscription of a Lingg token as the obverse and the Centennial design side as the reverse. It is a moot point, however, with Lingg medals because both sides display a Centennial design, so either side could be listed as the obverse.

When 1 open up a cabinet of Centennial tokens, 1 will honor the token collectors’ conventions.

Categories

Categorizing Centennial medals has turned out to be a much more difficult and complex task than I had first expected. My first clue should have been how many times 1 had sorted and re-sorted my own collection.

As with any collection, allowing the individual specimens to suggest their own categories works, but only for a while. Soon, new additions to the collection nominate new categories, which tempt the collector to reorganize. Usually the only thing gained by reorganization is not new clarity but simply greater familiarity with one’s own collection.

The biggest challenge with categorization is that many medals logically fit into two or more categories equally well. For example, the George Washington/Brooklyn Sunday School medal, could easily fit into multiple categories, such as Washington Portraits, Religious Organizations, or, simply. Organizations. 1 followed Goldilocks’ logic and put it into the Organizations category because a Washington category was “too large,” and Religious Organizations was “too small,” but the Organizations category was “just right.”

The medals from the Centennial Exhibition posed a significant classification challenge, which 1 resolved by creating no less than five categories of Exhibition medals.

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Altogether, there are 14 categories of National Commemoratives

Declaration of Independence

Exhibition Award Medals Exhibition Medals Exhibition Visitors Exhibition Buildings Struck at the Exhibition

U.S. Centennial medals. They are:

The Centennial medals authorized by the February 12, 1873, Act of Congress authorizing national commemorative medals.

Medals that commemorate the 100* birthday of the Declaration of Independence.

Medals awarded to exhibitors at the Exhibition.

Medals commemorating the Centennial Exhibition itself.

Medals honoring visitors to the Centennial Exhibition.

Medals depicting the buildings of the Centennial Exhibition.

Medals struck on-site at the Centennial Exhibition.

Centennial medals struck in black walnut or cherry wood.

Centennial medals commissioned by organizations.

Centennial medals struck by foreign governments.

Medals depicting historical persons.

Medals commemorating Centennial events.

Centennial medals depicting patriotic s5nnbols.

Centennial medals commissioned by individuals.

This is the fifteenth drawer in the Centennial cabinet. It is a proto-category referred to as “Maybe Centennial, maybe not.” This drawer is a placeholder for medals that have yet to be certified as actual Centennials. I invite reader collaboration on these medals. Confirmed Centennials will be added to the catalog, while non-Centennials will be removed.

The sixteenth drawer in the cabinet is currently empty, reserved for?

Images and Sizes

After much deliberation, I have decided that visual detail is more important than scale illustrations. Thus, this volume is illustrated with the best photographs available to me, and medals are depicted as large as page format permits (i.e., two 3.2-inch diameter images side by side). In most cases, this means that medals are shown larger than life-size. The exact size of each medal is listed in the data section under Diameter and the ratio of the photograph’s size to that of the actual medal appears below the photo within parentheses, such as (2.2 x). This means that the 3.2-inch image is 2.2 times the size of the actual medal. Thus, medals smaller than 3.2 inches will have an x value greater than one; those more than 3.2 inches in diameter will have an x value less than one. Medal sizes are shown in millimeters. A conversion table, which lists equivalent values such as inches, medal sizes as in Holland and Frossard, and watch sizes can be found in the Appendices.

Thickness and Weight

With the exception of the medals struck by the U.S. Mint, Centennial medals tend to vary, sometimes quite widely, in thickness and weight. The Mint was and is required by Congress to maintain accurate records and follow strict standards in all their activities. Private minters, on the other hand, were and are in business primarily to make money. As a result and in contrast with the excellent standards of most modern private mints, nineteenth-century private manufacturers of medals often did not hesitate to use planchet material that varied in composition and thickness, depending on cost and availability. The result is that many Centennial medals can be found in a wide range of thicknesses and weights. At opposite ends of some of

Centennial Woods Organizations Foreign Medals Historical Figures Historical Events Patriotic S5nnbols Personal Medals Centennial?

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these ranges, one might be tempted to list thick and thin or light and heavy varieties, as earlier catalogers have sometimes done. Thicknesses and weights vary so much in privately-struck medals that 1 have decided not to list either measurement as part of this cabinet. Individual collectors are invited to use their own judgment in this matter with their own collections.

Catalog Numbering

Holland and Frossard numbered their medals using Roman numerals, blithely ignorant that one day their Roman numbering schema would drive computers (and this author) crazy. Ergo, 1 have taken the liberty of translating their Roman numerals into Arabic numerals when citing from their catalogs. My conscience pricks me for the intellectual infidelity, but convenience outweighs the guilt.

The numbering system in this catalog follows a simple rule. Each die pair used to strike a medal gets a new number. Die varieties are subjective. How much difference between successive dies does it take to call it a new die, a new design? Usually, if it appears that the intent of the diesinker was to duplicate the previous die, but noticeable differences exist, that will be considered a die variety, and the catalog number will not change. Examples of this are the three ray varieties and two date varieties on A-20, the small Commemorative Medals. On the other hand, the two varieties of the large Commemorative Medal differ so widely that separate numbers have been assigned.

When the difference between dies appears to have been intentional in order to create a different medal or to serve a different purpose, then a separate number is given to the resultant medal. Mules are an obvious example of this. So are the cases where the sculptor has placed his name or initials on one die and not the other. Another example would be the Soley “Struck in the Centennial Buildings” series which can be found with three distinct reverse dies: with and without “No.” and with “Soley” in exergue under the date.

In the beginning, the numbers in this catalog all started out ending in zero; i.e. each medal’s number skips ten to the next medal’s number. This numbering scheme is driven by the expectation (and the hope) that medals unknown to me at the time of publication will be brought to my attention after publication. When that happens, the “new” medals can be inserted wherever they best fit into the cabinet without changing any already assigned numbers. By skipping ten numbers, there should be plenty of room for new insertions.

The alloy from which a medal has been struck is designated in the catalog by a two-letter abbreviation subscripted next to the catalog number. The alloys used in this book are listed below: Synonymous alloy names are shaded, and the abbreviations used in their stead are listed.

AUoy	Abbrev.
Albata(cf.\l’hite Metal]	WTSl
Black Walnut Wo o d	b%v
Brass	bs
Bronze	bz
CherTpAVood	ch
Composition	cm
Copper (cf. Bronze]	bz
Copper-nickel	cn
Clay (cf. Terracotta]	tc
Earthemvarv* (cf Terracotta]	tc
Enamel	en
Celluloid	ge
Gilt	gi
Gold	go
Graphite	sr
Gutta Percha

Alloy	Abbrev.
Hard Rubber	hr
Lead	Id
Leather	Ir
Milk Glass	mg
Xickel	ni
Xickel-plate	np
Oreide	or
Pe%\ter (cf ^’^Tl[te Metal]
Porcelain	pn
Silver	si
Silver Plate
Tin (cf^\Tlite Metal]
Type Metal (cf Lead]	Id
\'ermeil	^■m
^\Tlite Metal
Wo 0 d (unsp e cifie d varietv^]	%vd

Style

Anyone who has attempted to describe a medal or to identify a medal from someone else’s description knows that sculptors and engravers of medals (not to mention authors) are held to no grammatical standard. There is no consistency of spelling, punctuation, or abbreviation. 1 have attempted to describe the medals in

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this cabinet using a consistent standard which is simple to state but more difficult to follow. The standard will, as much as possible, obey the following rules:

• The obverse will be described before the reverse. In most cases, the obverse is easily distinguished, but in some cases the decision is not so simple. In fact, even published authors sometimes differ as to which side is the obverse and which is the reverse. In such cases, 1 get to make the decision, and while 1 may be arbitrary, 1 will do my best to be consistent. For example, among the many medals that have the Liberty Bell on one side and Independence Hall or some other edifice on the other, 1 will consistently assume that the Liberty Bell is the obverse.

• Legends, if any, will be described literally, as follows:

> Upper and lower case in the description will mirror the case as used on the medal.

> The text of a legend, including its punctuation, if any, will be enclosed in double quotation marks. If the legend includes quotation marks actually on the medal, the entire legend, including its double or single quotation marks, as appropriate, will be enclosed in the opposite quotation marks (single if double on the medal, double if single on the medal).

> Thus, ' “WHAT A GLORIOUS MORNING!” ' indicates that the legend on the medal contains double quotations and that the exclamation mark also appears on the medal. “WHAT A GLORIOUS MORNING!” would indicate that there are no quotation marks on the medal (but the exclamation point does appear).

> Superscripts and subscripts, if any, will be depicted in the description as on the medal. For example, “100™” indicates that the “TH” is depicted on the medal as a superscript; “lOOTH” indicates that the “TH” is not a superscript on the medal but is the same size and on the same level as the rest of the text.

> A forward slash (/) indicates the end of a line in a multi-line inscription.

> Figures, edifices, and designs will be described from major to minor, larger to smaller, inner to outer, etc.

> Dates will be described depending on where they appear on the medal: if in the legend, then as part of the legend; if in the design, then as part of the design.

Rarity (to be added to catalog after collaboration online)

One of the wonderful things about medals is that they are almost always issued in relatively small quantities that would make numismatists salivate over the prospect of owning such relative rarities. For example, there are 15 known examples of the 1804 Silver Dollar, and we all know that it would require a bid in seven figures to purchase the next one that comes up for auction. However, equally scarce medals can commonly be purchased in high grade for under $100. (1 have done it many times!). The reason for this is simple: the demand for 1804 dollars far exceeds their supply. Apparently, the demand for some equally rare medals is lower even than the limited supply, which presents a happy opportunity to those who know their medals.

Repetitive Descriptions

One of the things 1 find very difficult to follow is the use of “Same as the obverse (or reverse) of xxx” in the description of the obverse or reverse of a medal. This was taken to an extreme in many catalogs of the 19™ Century. For example, Holland number LXXVll says “Same as No. LXXIII,” which says “MACHINERY HALL and view, otherwise, same as last” (LXXl), which says “AGRICULTURAL HALL and view, otherwise, same as last” (LXX), which says “HORTICULTURAL HALL and view, otherwise, same as last” (LXIX), which says “Memorial Hall with foreground and beneath MEMORIAL HALL, otherwise, same as last” (LXVlll), which finally gives the full description. Humbug, I say!

I realize that the purpose of such frustrating circumlocution is to save space, and paper, and therefore money in the world of books. In the world of electronic media, 1 think the extra effort of sometimes-repetitive descriptions is outweighed by the convenience of being able to read a complete description with each medal. Therefore, in most cases, I have provided complete descriptions wherever possible.

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Proxy Pix

Many sets of Centennial medals share common dies. Take, for example, the depiction of the presentation of the Declaration of Independence by the Committee of Five, copied from Trumbull’s famous oil painting. There are four known die varieties of the Trumbull die, muled with five other dies to create at least twelve known die pairings in the set. Three of them are merchant tokens, and nine of them are Centennials. Of these nine that are known to exist, 1 have so far been able to obtain photos of only four. However, 1 do have images of all the dies in the set, so rather than leaving readers with only the text descriptions of the obverse and reverse, 1 have assembled “Proxy Pix” from these available images to serve as graphic examples of such a medal until 1 have the opportunity to obtain matching images. Mules # 2, 6, 7, and 8 of this set in the Declaration of Independence drawer are Proxy Pix.

By the way, one of the goals of this iBook is to solicit the donation of missing images from my fellow collectors. Those who provide such images with permission for me to use them will receive grateful acknowledgement and the honor of owning the plate medal in this catalog.

Pagination

Some compromises are inevitable and necessary in a web-book, such as this, that straddles the worlds of both electronic and paper books. In order to make browsing as convenient and quick as possible on-screen, each medal is listed on a new page. This facilitates using the “page down” arrow in Acrobat Reader to scroll down through the document medal by medal. 1 admit this makes for a lot of white space in the printed version. However, this will be rectified at a later date. If there is enough demand for a high-quality printed book at some time in the future, 1 have a fine-press publisher who has expressed interest in printing and binding a fine edition. If/when this possibility comes to fruition, it will be announced on the website and every other venue 1 can utilize.

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Preface

My name is Ron, and I am an exonumist.

“If there's a book that you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.” Toni Morrison, Pulitzer Prize winner, Nobel Prize recipient, and Presidential Medal of Freedom awardee.

There are many numismatic authors who would have done a far better job of writing this book than I, if only one of them would have. However, none of them, not even one, has stepped forward to relieve me of this presumptive burden to fulfill my wish that there were a comprehensive reference on the Centennial medals of 1876.

I have been a coin collector since the fourth grade when my father gave me two brand-new blue penny folders and the pennies from that day’s commerce at his pharmacy. He told me I could keep the pennies that would fit into the albums’ empty holes. What’s not to like? That continued until I had filled all the common openings. After several weeks of not being able to add a single penny to my collection, I did the only thing an inveterate collector could do; I decided to collect nickels. However, Dad told me I’d have to do it out of my allowance, and that was the beginning of the problem. From that moment on, my taste in coins slowly but inexorably overhauled my ability to afford them. Starting new collections worked for a while, but inevitably I was drawn to that combination of rarity and quality that I could never quite afford. I know, I know. A man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for, but what self-respecting collector has that kind of patience?

Fast-forward to 2002. My collections (Bust Halves, Morgan Dollars, Trade Dollars, and a U.S. Type Set) had challenged my wallet to the point where I had not added a single coin in two years. It wasn’t for lack of interest. I attended my local coin club regularly, went to dealer shows, and read the standard monthly periodicals, but nothing grabbed my acquisitive attention. Then, at the June club meeting. Bill Parron, a best friend, part-time dealer, and fellow Navy veteran, showed me four medals in a fitted leather box and asked me if I would research them for him. He did not do this on purpose. He had no idea that exonumia can be contracted from just such a lovely set as this. I thought I was just doing a favor for a friend when I offered to research them for him so he could set a fair price on the set. Thanks to the Internet and eBay, I was able to tell Bill at the next meeting that he had a set of four of the medals struck by the U.S. Mint to commemorate the 1876 Centennial. I had found a similar set in a past auction, and I told him the selling price. He offered the set to me at that price, but I was too cagey for him. Besides, who cared about medals? They weren’t even money - just metal disks whose practical function could only be as paperweights. Definitely beneath my numismatic station.

When Bill offered the set again in August, I resisted, but those four medals piqued my curiosity for some perverse unexplainable reason. I resolved to do a little more research. I discovered that there were a lot of commemorative medals issued in 1876 and that they fit into many collecting categories, such as Mint medals, Washington portrait medals, and so-called dollars, to name only a few. But what really floored me was how rare even the common ones were. If they were coins, I couldn’t afford any of them, but they were only medals, with a much smaller pool of collectors, and the law of supply and demand meant that I could not only afford that set of four, but I might even be able to put together a nice collection. I bought the set from Bill at the September meeting, and the die was cast. (I must go on record here to pronounce that I bear Bill no malice. He had no idea what that simple transaction had started. Even my wife does not blame him.)

From just that inauspicious occasion, I discovered a whole new world of numismatics, one that theretofore had never appealed to me. After all, I was a coin collector, a U.S. coin collector, a specialist!

If it wasn’t a Morgan or Trade Dollar, or a Bust Half, it just didn’t count. And then. . . hmm. . . these medals were beautiful, with detail and depth of field that I had never seen in a coin, truly hand-held sculptures with beauty, history, and authenticity. After all, they were struck in the Philadelphia Mint. So

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I told Bill what Fd found out, and, with my fingers crossed in my pocket, 1 asked him what he would sell them for. His reply took me aback. 1 expected a higher price, one that 1 truly could not afford, because 1 had learned that these medals were far scarcer than any coin 1 had ever owned, rarer than any dollar or half dollar I could ever hope to afford. 1 bought those medals on the spot, and they launched me on the most exciting, interesting, and enjoyable experience of my collecting career.

Overnight, 1 had become an exonumist. 1 had discovered the beauty, the rarity, and the relative affordability of medals. At first, new acquisitions came slowly as 1 discovered, to my chagrin, that very few dealers knew an5^hing about Centennial medals, let alone had an5^hing in their inventory. Enter eBay, the new marketplace to the world, and my collection began to take off. It was time to start a new library, but 1 couldn’t find any books on Centennial medals. Next stop - the ANA Library and their wonderful lending and research program for members. To my surprise, Nancy Green, that absolute peach of a librarian, confirmed that no book dedicated to Centennial medals had yet been published, but there were some references that included some Centennials. 1 spent the next few weeks accumulating and reading those wonderful works by Rulau, Fuld, Julian, Loubat, Hibler-Kappan, Slabaugh, and Storer. Then came the illuminating discovery that H.W. Holland and Edouard Frossard had published contemporaneous lists of Centennial medals from 1876 through 1878 in the American Journal of Numismatics and the Coin Collector’s Journal, respectively. Once again, Nancy came to the rescue and mailed me photocopies of those periodical articles, along with her plea that someone, maybe even I, should finally write the definitive work on Centennial medals.

That suggestion both thrilled and intimidated me. There was no way 1 considered myself qualified to write a definitive work on an5^hing, let alone something I so far knew so little about. But the simple possibility of maybe someday writing something, anything, did spur me to do research more thoroughly and to take better notes, if only for the self-discipline of it. Now, years later, this book is the result of all those serendipitous bits and pieces that came together in their own unpredictable way, and 1 offer this book as my contribution, however humble, to the literature of exonumia, in the hope that those luminaries who preceded me will not look too far down their noses at my efforts.

It has always been surprising to me that no one has published a reference dedicated to the medals and tokens of the 1876 Centennial. There is certainly no shortage of collectors of exonumia from world’s fairs, politics, Washington portraiture, the U.S. Mint, Masonry, labor unions, churches, Sunday schools, charities, you name it. The 1876 Centennial has it all, and more. The Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia was America’s first world’s fair and the biggest, most, and best attended up to that time.

The presidential election of 1876 was so close and confusing that not even the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution was up to the task of resolving it. The first four sets of National Commemorative Medals authorized by Congress under the Act of February 12, 1873, were Centennial medals. And, without question, George Washington’s portrait was the most frequent subject to grace Centennial medals and tokens.

So why has a Centennial effort such as this taken more than a century? Good question. I don’t know the answer, but maybe we’ll all find out soon, depending on the success or failure of this attempt at a definitive Centennial reference. Whatever the explanation. Centennial medals deserve more attention from the collecting frarority. (What is a “frarority,” you may, and should, ask? Well, since there are ladies as well as gentlemen who collect Centennial medals, both “fraternity” and “sorority” would be sexist, so let’s call ourselves a frarority. It won’t be the first new term necessitated by our exonumial hobby.)

Speaking of definitions, what do 1 mean by “Centennial”? Webster defines the word as “of or relating to a hundredth anniversary,” which, of course, 1876 was. Not every medal or token with the date 1876 is Centennial, nor do all Centennial medals and tokens display the date of 1876. Similarly, some items dated 1875 are Centennial, as are some that have no date at all. This reference even includes four medals that anticipate the Centennial, namely the 50*, 94*, 98* and 99* anniversaries. Typically, any medal or

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token that was issued to commemorate, celebrate, mark, or simply take advantage of the 100* birthday of the Declaration of Independence can be considered to be Centennial.

One of the factors that contributed to the variety and range of medals and tokens during our 100* birthday celebration was the unalloyed patriotism and pride that were the hallmark of the Centennial. Only a little more than eleven years had elapsed since the end of the Civil War, and no country has ever undergone and survived a more divisive threat to its existence. With the threat of America’s total dissolution averted, the process of reunification, known as Reconstruction, threatened to prolong de facto division indefinitely. It was no coincidence that the Centennial contributed to the end of Reconstruction and the ultimate healing of the country. It was the disputed election of 1876 (and, I maintain, the near-universal sense of patriotism that hallmarked the Centennial) that resulted in a compromise that ended Reconstruction once and for all.

Contrast this euphoric pride with the situation exactly 100 years later. As chronicled by Lynne Cheney in The Eagle Screams, written in 1976:

“Witness our own inability — unwillingness, perhaps — to put together a similar Bicentennial celebration. Philadelphia worked on Bicentennial plans for sixteen years, twice as long as it took to free the colonies from England, making and unmaking plans for an exhibition, discarding one site after another, trying to please social activists who wanted jobs for the poor instead of a party, businessmen who wanted the revenue from an exposition, homeowners who didn’t want the disturbance. The American Revolutionary Bicentennial Commission, which rejected Philadelphia’s $6oo-million final plan, was still trying to define its role six years after its creation, in a confused debate constantly interrupted by conflicting demands for “relevance" — relevance to the past, relevance to present difficulties, relevance to everybody’s problems.”

Take, for example, the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia that was open in 1876 for exactly six months from April 10* to November 10*. Despite the difficulties presented by nineteenth-century transportation, one out of fifteen American citizens attended the fair. This is equivalent to 20,583,085 attendees based on our population in the 2010 census, which would be 3.430,505 attendees per month, which would be equivalent to 114,350 attendees every single day for six months! Add to this the fact that, though admission to the fair was only fifty cents; but, with inflation taken into account, that is equivalent to $27.37 today! [Source: http://www.halfhill.com/inflation.html1 That would be a daily gate of over $3 million dollars a day, or a gross revenue for the entire exhibition of $563,359,036, over half a billion dollars! Going to the fair was no trivial matter in 1876.

In this day of mixed opinions in our country about our country by our own countr5mien, will we ever again be able to match the pride of our ancestors as described once again by Lynne Cheney:

“The Centennial celebration was full of incongruities that to a twentieth century eye have an adolescent quality, a certain painful awkwardness that we have little desire to repeat. Yet it was also informed by an enviable enthusiasm and exuberance that we. . . seem little likely to achieve. The image of the country that our centennial ancestors projected in their celebration was not objective, or realistic, or all-inclusive. But . . . their party was full of vigor and spirit and life.”

Hear! Hear!

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Mcgillin’s Prologue

It was an exciting time to be an American, especially in Philadelphia. The air fairly crackled with anticipation, and every day brought news and stirred gossip that gave shape to the events to come. The U.S. Patent Office buzzed with a not unexpected increase in requests to register and protect new ideas and designs to commemorate (and profit from) the occasion. Businessmen and laborers alike crowded smoke-filled taverns where every conversation carried the common thread of the topic on everyone’s mind. Back home, their wives dug into blanket chests and rustled through linen closets to find the cherished flag and tri-color bunting that would soon mark the patriotic fervor of every home and place of business.

The Bell in Hand Door Pull

Indeed, springtime in the City of Brotherly Love was an exciting place to be in the year of our Lord 1875. The light was dim and the air redolent of pipe and cigar smoke, just the way the patrons liked it in the Bell in Hand Ale House. The barkeep, William McGillin, less portly and more taciturn than the average barkeep, carried four foam- crested pewter steins to the end of the bar where his regulars, the Corner Gang, always congregated. The argument had started up again, regular as clockwork these days, it seemed.

“It’s 1876, 1 tell you. Any fool who knows how to add and subtract will tell you that,” fumed one customer.

William McGillin

“Nonsense! It’s an anniversary celebration, not just another birthday of some snot-nosed brat. Anyone with a jot of sense knows that our hundredth year starts on July 5* 1875.”

McGillin shrugged, resigned to another round in the never-ending clash between the mathematically and the philosophically inclined. He knew that the good citizens of Philadelphia would start celebrating this coming July 4* and not stop until the great Philadelphia Exhibition in Fairmount Park ended the following year. He smiled inwardly as he contemplated the brisk trade that the entire year and more would bring. Yes, the Centennial would be good for business from July 5* 1875, until the end of 18761.

(The Bell in Hand Ale House opened for business in 1860 at 1308 Drury Street in Philadelphia. William McGillin lived upstairs in with his wife and 13 children. Wdliam died in 1901, and his wife operated the tavern until 1907, when she sold to new owners, who expanded it to its present location of 1306-1310 Drury Street and renamed it McGillin's Old Ale House. It remains open to this day, and is the fifth oldest tavern in continuous

operation in America.)

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Prologue 131111

The Centennial Commemorative Medals

On February 12, 1873, Congress authorized the striking of National Commemorative Medals by the United States Mint. The first four issues authorized under that Act celebrated the impending Centennial of the United States of America.

The first National Commemorative issue authorized, struck, and sold were the medals in two designs and sizes for the U.S. Centennial Exposition to be held in Philadelphia. They were authorized by Congress on June 16, 1874, struck later that same year, and first offered for sale on March 24, 1875.

The second commemorative issue celebrated the Centennial of the Battle of Lexington, which took place on April 19, 1775. The first order of 2 gold, 25 silver, and 200 bronze medals was rushed into production on April 15, 1875, in order to be available for the Centennial celebration in Lexington, Massachusetts, on April 19* and 20*, 1875.

The third issue commemorated the Centennial of the Mecklenburg Declaration of May 20, 1775. The first reverse die produced by the Mint drastically misspelled the name of the county as “Mechlenburgh,” which delayed production until May 5, 1875. The medals were introduced to the public on the 19* and 20* of May, 1875, at the Mecklenburg Declaration Centennial Celebration in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The fourth and last set of Centennial medals issued under the Act of 1873 was the Nevada Exposition medal, commissioned to be sold as a Centennial Exhibition souvenir at the California and Nevada State Building. Production started on June 20, 19876, and ended on November 11, 1876. According to a cer- tificate signed by A. Loudon Snowden, U.S. Mint Coiner, that accompanied the first 147 medals, “the Nevada Exposition medals. . . are made of pure silver, crushed from Nevada ores, at the Nevada quartz mill in the Centennial Exposition grounds, and subsequently refined at the United States Mint.

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National Commemoratives 131111

The Centennial Commemorative Medals

10. U. S. Centennial Large Commemorative Medal (Variety 1)

(1.4 x) (1.4 x)

Obverse: Lady Liberty wears a long gown with a long shawl or veil billowing behind; resting on her right knee; sword in her right hand pointed to the ground; left hand pointing upwards; above her head a glory (halo of 13 stars from which radiate a number of lines representing beams of light); in exergue "1776"; surrounded by a circle of small beads, outside of which is inscribed: "THESE UNITED COLONIES ARE AND OF RIGHT OUGHT TO BE FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES."; all surrounded by a circular solid line just inside the rim.

Reverse: A standing female figure of Columbia, representing the United States, in a long off-the-left- shoulder full gown, wearing the liberty cap, with a sheathed sword at her left side, and supporting the shield of the United States leaning against her left leg, holds a beribboned crown in each outstretched arm. With her left hand, she crowns a kneeling female figure representing Art, depicted with her right hand resting on a sculptured bust, holding a modelling stick in her left hand, and next to her lies a pallette, brushes, and a maulstick. With her right hand, she crowns a kneeling female figure representing Manufacturing, depicted with a hammer in her right hand, supporting a large cog-wheel, and next to her a large anvil. In exergue: "1876". All surrounded by a rope or beaded ring; outside the ring: "IN COMMEMORATION OF THE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE."; below: "ACT OF CONGRESS JUNE 1874."; all surrounded by a circular solid line just inside the rim.

The official trade card of the Centennial Board of Revenue explained the symbolism of the official Centennial medal designs as follows: "The design of the obverse on all of the medals represents the Genius of American Independence rising from a recumbent position, grasping with her right hand the sword which is to enforce her demands, and raising her left in appealing pride to the galaxy of thirteen stars, which, indicating the original colonies and States, are blazing in the firmament. Beneath is the date 1776. The reverse displays the Genius of Liberty, with the now ornamental sword buckled to her girdle, the shield of the Stars and Stripes leaning at rest, while with either hand she extends a welcome and a chaplet to the arts and sciences assembled with evidences of their skill and craft to do honor to the date 1876, which is inscribed upon the platform. The history of our great nation is depicted in these two designs, and as a work of art, a memento of the Centennial, or as a means of contributing to its celebration, these Memorial Medals should be objects of universal appreciation."

National Commemoratives 131111

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The Centennial Commemorative Medals

The official broadside that marketed the medals (q.v.) indicates that the Centennial Board planned to sell seven Mint medals: the large medal in gilt, bronze, and white metal; the small medal in silver, gilt, and bronze; and an Independence gilt medal. Later versions of the same broadside do not mention the Independence medal, so it is probably safe to say that it was never issued.

Cross-refs: F-1; H-9; J CM-11, L-82

Diameter: 57.6 mm.

Edge: Plain

Alloy No. Weight Note

Gold lOgo 150.6 gm This medal is unique. It was presented to the President of the

U.S. Centennial Board of Finance, at the public ceremony held on the Exhibition grounds on July 4, 1876. It was last sold at auction in the John Ford Sale, Part V, Lot 193, on October 12, 2004, where it realized $54,625.00.

Silver lOsi 81.2 & 77.9 gm These medals were struck in