Exonumia Auction - Maine Antique Digest

Medals of the American Numismatic SocietyLot 221female personifications. A figure of Charity at center withoutstretched arms is flanked by the theatrical figures of Comedyand Tragedy. ACTORS’ is inscribed in the upper left field; FUNDin the lower right. Below that, the ANS seal. The reverse presentsthese two theatrical masks as the dominant central theme. NEWYORK above, 1910, below.Lot 219TRUST refers to a phrase used by Cleveland when he accepted thenomination as Mayor for the City of Buffalo. We last auctioned asilver Cleveland medal in our 2008 Auction Seventy Eight wherea similar piece brought $1092.50.220. GROVER CLEVELAND ANS PLAQUETTE, 1910. Asabove, but struck in Bronze. Edge numbered “72”. Uncirculated.Only 100 medals were struck in bronze. (G)221. ACTORS’ FUND, 1910. Baxter 240. 69.9mm. Bronze. ChesterBeach, Sc. Plain Edge. (Some examples have the edge marked:MED. ART CO., D within diamond.) Uncirculated. The obverseis a characteristic Beach production. It features three elegantThe Actors’ Fund organization refers to this medal as the “Actors’Fund Medal of Honor.” It was first awarded to President WilliamHoward Taft, who received a gold example when he opened theActors’ Fund Fair, a bazaar to benefit the Fund’s charities. In anewspaper account of the time, the medal was described as havingbeen commissioned “… by Archer N. Huntington, President of theAmerican Numismatic Society.” Although the article stated that1000 replicas in silver were struck for distinguished guests and5000 in bronze for the public, no silver example of this medal hasbeen seen and the scarcity of the bronze medal in the marketplaceindicates that no large quantity of them was ever produced.There is some dispute as to whether or not the Actors’ Fund medalis an issue of the Society. Both former ANS curator, Dr. JeremiahBrady and Scott Miller find no documentation in the Society57H