Exonumia Auction - Maine Antique Digest

U.S. Mint MedalsLot 322322. U.S. MILITARY ACADEMY LATROBE MEDAL. PE-18. 27mm. Copper, bronzed. XF/AU in terms of wear, but withsome significant corrosion. The obverse bears a view of theKosciusko Monument surrounded by the legend, U.S. MILITARYACADEMY WEST POINT. There is a clump of green verdigristo the right of the monument and some darker corrosion into thelettering of WEST POINT. The reverse depicts a flying eaglebearing an inscribed scroll and the inscription below: FROM/THE CORPS OF CADETS/ TO/ J.H.B.LATROBE ESQ./ 1825.There is some light verdigris on the eagle’s wing at left and slightlyabove it.John Hazlehurst Boneval Latrobe was the son of the famedarchitect, Benjamin Henry Latrobe, best known for his work asArchitect of the U.S. Capitol J.H.B. was appointed a cadet atWest Point in 1818, but had to resign shortly before graduationon account of the death of his father. He then studied law and wasadmitted to practice in 1825. For many years he was counsel to theB&O Railroad Company; was a founder of the Maryland Institute;President of the American Colonization Society and Presidentof the Maryland Historical Society. In 1849 he was appointed amember of the Board of Visitors to West Point and was chosenits president.. Latrobe received the medal in gold and it currentlyreposes in the collection of the Maryland Historical Society.Examples in both silver and bronze are extremely rare. We havenot offered a bronze example at auction since 1986. In this case,scarcity may very well trump condition! (F)323. VISIT OF BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT DUTRA TO THEUNITED STATES BY MANSHIP, 1949. Prober 1949-10P.76mm. Silver. (8.4 oz.) Paul Manship, Sc. Lightly tarnishedAbout Uncirculated. Obverse with * EURICO GASPAR DUTRA* PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF BRAZIL arounda central bust of Dutra to the left. The reverse features a seatedfigure of Columbia on a pedestal holding a torch in the right handand a palm branch, resting on an American shield in her left. Thepedestal is flanked by the date: MAY 1949. Inscribed below is:COMMEMORATING/ VISIT TO THE/ UNITED STATES/ OFAMERICA. Manship’s signature appears immediately below thepedestal to the right.H84Manship was initially contacted by John Walker, Chief Curatorof the National Gallery of Art on February 15, 1949. Walkerstated that he “had a confidential equity from another Governmentdepartment, asking for a recommendation of a sculptor to doa commemorative medal to celebrate the visit of an importantforeign official to the United States….The work would have to bedone immediately as the visit will take place in May.” Manshipwrote three days later that he was free to do the work immediatelyand the fee would be $1,500 for the models.on March 9, 1949, Manship was contacted by the Department ofState, setting out the conditions of the commission. The designLot 323sketches were to be submitted no later than March 21! Furthermore,the approved, finished models needed to be delivered to the mintat Philadelphia before April 15 or the contract would be void.Sketches were sent on March 17, approved by the White House onMarch 23rd and photos of Dutra were finally sent to execute themedal.Manship sent the plaster models on April 5th, they were approvedand forwarded to Director Ross at the Mint ahead of the deadline..this is an extremely rare medal. The mintage figure was notknown to Prober (Catalogo das Medalhas da Republica), who ratedit as “RR”. However, the John Manship papers contains a letter toPaul Manship from Stanley Woodward, State Department Chief ofProtocol stating that 1 gold, 15 silver and 84 bronze medals werestruck and presented to President Dutra (the gold) and to membersof the Brazilian Delegation and U.S. officials connected with theDutra visit. This is only the second silver example of this medalknown to reach the auction block. We sold a similar piece in our2001 Marcus Sale (#649) for $3105.00.