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Looking for a Bennington Battle Medal

33 posts in this topic

I spotted this Bennington Battle medal in Arlie Slabaugh's United States Commemorative Coinage book. I tried to find one on the Internet, but all I could find was a crazy site that wants you to pay them for access before you can contact the seller.

 

If anyone knows where one of these is for sale, I'd like to buy one. My interest stems from the reverse which was an early proposal for the design of the Vermont commemorative half dollar.

 

ZBenningtonBattleMedal_zps89c78785.jpg

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I don't believe the medal was ever produced. The reverse is one of Keck's designs for the half dollar, but the obverse I have not seen on a plaster model.

 

AAA_keckchar_20180_zps0b9f946c.jpg

 

Above is the design featuring Ira and the tavern.

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OK. I was wrong...somone must have struck it. There's nothing of the obverse in the Keck papers at Archives of American Art....at least from a quick check.

 

Member LeeG might have more info.

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FWIW.......

 

I'll be attending the Summer FUN in July for just one day, but since I will probably look only for medals, I'll keep my eyes peeled for you.

 

Chris

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I don't believe the medal was ever produced. The reverse is one of Keck's designs for the half dollar, but the obverse I have not seen on a plaster model.

 

AAA_keckchar_20180_zps0b9f946c.jpg

 

Above is the design featuring Ira and the tavern.

 

Ira Goldberg Sale #36, item 506.

Medallic Art. Bronze unsigned, edge w/#2 impressed.

Went for $63.00.

Will look around for you. Saw one in I think Aug.2012 Show. Know seller, will ask for you.

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There are a number of medals from this era that were issued at the same time as a commemorative half dollar, and many pieces were issued on their own, especially in the New England area. The number of New England town medals is very large. I never specialized in them, but I knew a few collectors who did when I lived in Masschusetts.

 

I have some Dealware medals that were issued at the same time and by the same agencies as the Delaware commemorative. The Swedish pieces, especially, are very neat. There is also a very large silver medal that sold at $7.50 at the time. I've never seen that one, and from the collector I know who is an expert in the field he knows of only one of them in collector's hands.

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i like the medal in general especially the reverse.

 

I like the reverse too, which is main reason why I want the piece. I know that I am in the minority, but I think that it should have been coupled with the Ira Allen obverse on the commemorative half dollar.

 

I have been a biography, Ethan Allen, His Life and Times, by Willard Sterne Randall. Ethan was an amazing person, and I am surprised the Hollywood didn't come up with a movie about him in the 1940s or '50s. He was a swashbuckling combination of Robin Hood, Daniel Boone and a backwoods Thomas Jefferson and J.P. Morgan.

 

Early on he had fights with the Puritan over issues of theology which got him expelled from the "nicer" communities. Like Thomas Jefferson he was deist with really rubbed the Puritans and "born again" believers the wrong way. He surveyed the lands which would become Vermont in the dead of winter while he hunted for fur bearing animals. He speculated in land, borrowing heavily in the process, and always ended up avoiding bankruptcy. In conjunction with that he had ongoing disputes with the landed gentry and leadership of New York State which claimed title to the land he sold to settlers. He formed and led the Green Mountain Boys who took up armed resistance against New York officials and ultimately had a price on his head. On the Revolutionary War began Allan was involved in an ill-fated invasion of Canada which resulted in his capture and imprisonment by the British for three hellish years often under inhuman conditions. I could continue, but I think we have enough for several scripts already.

 

The Catamount or Fay's Tavern was an very important meeting place for Allan and his supporter, and it is mentioned many times in the book. While it is true that a stuffed catamount was on a sign that marked the place, the appearance cat on the reverse of the coin really does a disservice to history.

 

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Wish there were more threads of this type on these boards...Bill, RWB, and all others -- thanks for an interesting read. This is the kind of stuff that makes me love this hobby. The hunt (fun!), the history (extremely interesting), and the artistry (I'm with others, I find this medal very attractive). (thumbs u

 

Good luck in your hunt Bill. I'll keep my eyes open on all the sites I peruse regularly.

 

-Brandon

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Personally, I feel buildings do not "work" on a coin. Although the tavern might be of much greater historical importance, the mountain lion is a broader icon for the state of Vermont.

 

There's an earlier post showing two of Keck's models for the cat.

 

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Thanks for the project Bill! This is kinda fun.

If there is one to be found at the GNA show next month it's yours. :)

 

Gee, if you find one next month and I find one in July, that means I'll be able to keep it for myself.

 

Chris

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PS -- Here's a link to the Goldberg auction mentioned above.

 

Wow! That bronze is awesome. Since it was produced by MACO, perhaps it is one of the expanded list that NGC will grade.

 

Chris

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Personally, I feel buildings do not "work" on a coin. Although the tavern might be of much greater historical importance, the mountain lion is a broader icon for the state of Vermont.

 

There's an earlier post showing two of Keck's models for the cat.

 

Personally, I'd rather drink beer in a tavern than have a tete a tete with a mountain lion.

 

Chris

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These should be easier to see than the negative images, especially after a few tavern brews:

 

AAA_keckchar_zps533d1c32.jpg

 

Catamount-sm_zps633905bf.jpg

 

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Thanks for the project Bill! This is kinda fun.

If there is one to be found at the GNA show next month it's yours. :)

 

Gee, if you find one next month and I find one in July, that means I'll be able to keep it for myself.

 

Chris

 

Not quite. If I find one and give it to Bill, I'll still need one.

You can send me the one you find. :grin:

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Thanks for the project Bill! This is kinda fun.

If there is one to be found at the GNA show next month it's yours. :)

 

Gee, if you find one next month and I find one in July, that means I'll be able to keep it for myself.

 

Chris

 

Not quite. If I find one and give it to Bill, I'll still need one.

You can send me the one you find. :grin:

 

Well, since you are being so generous by giving it to Bill without regard for yourself..............

 

let me sleep on it.

 

Chris

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Cool piece!

 

(thumbs u

 

 

"Distribution of the Bennington-Vermont commemorative half dollar began on February 1. During January 23,423 pieces were struck at the Philadelphia Mint. Some of the newspaper reports that the reverse would contain the design of a battle monument instead of a catamount proved untrue and the designs of the coin are substantially the same as the illustration in our October, 1926, issue. The only change is that the two mottoes, “In God We Trust” and “E Pluribus Unum,” which originally appeared on the obverse above the head of Ira Allen, have been transferred to the reverse, the former motto being placed above the years 1777-1927 and the latter placed below the catamount.

 

The coin was designed by Charles Keck, sculptor, of New York City. In a letter in response to an inquiry from Alexis P. Mengelle, of Colorado Springs, Col., as to the proposed change of design in the coin, Mr. Keck wrote him recently that no such change was proposed, and added:

 

“I have made a medal about 2 ½ inches in diameter, on one side of which I have represented Green Mountain boy with coonskin cap in which appears a sprig of evergreen, and holding a gun in his hands, and in the background I have indicated the original American flag and the inscription, “Vermont Sesqui-Centennial.’

 

“On the reverse I have a wreath of laurel with the names of the leading men inscribed on the ribbon which ties it together. In the center of this wreath is ‘Fay’s Tavern.’ On the outside off this wreath is the inscription, ‘Battle of Bennington 1777-1927,’ and fourteen stars, indicating that Vermont was the fourteenth State to enter the Union.”

 

Inquiry made to the Vermont State Sesqui-Centennial Commission for a photograph of the above medal for illustration brought the reply that no photographs were available.

 

'The Numismatist," March, 1927, p. 154.

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Stacks_Bowers_Vermont_Combo1.jpg

Stacks/Bowers Galleries image

 

This raw Vermont half dollar arrived in the last couple of weeks and I feel this medal is a nice tie-in with the coin.

 

Keck_Medal_Combo.jpg

Stacks/Bowers Galleries image

 

Elm_Trees.jpg

John Spargo tapping pipe on his shoe

 

John Spargo was the President of the State of Vermont Sesqui-Centennial Commission. He commissioned Charles Keck to design the coin and medal:

 

.AAA_keckchar_5003_In1945.jpg

Charles Keck

 

 

The information below is a letter from Charles Keck to John Spargo:

 

Charles Keck

Forty West Tenth Street

New York

 

November 1st, 1926.

 

Mr. John Spargo,

Bennington, Vermont.

 

Dear Mr. Spargo:

 

Am sending you under separate cover the photograph of the design for the Medal, which I think has come out exceedingly well.

 

I have shown, as you will see, the flag in its original design with the seven pointed stars, and the coloring of the stripes reversed.

 

Have shown the ‘Green Mountain Boy’ with coonskin cap and sprig of evergreen, in an alert position ready for action. From the side of the flag-pole I have suggested a few trees in the distance on the hillside, and the inscription ‘Vermont Sesqui Centennial.’

 

The design has a great many historical elements and yet, I think it has a big and simple directness which I feel will be appealing to the people. The other side I have changed as suggested. The combination of the two ought to tell the story of the struggles on-hundred-and-fifty-years ago, in a very definite way.

 

This photograph was taken from the clay model, the plaster-cast is very much more finished.

 

Have consulted the Medallic Art Company about the Relief and they tell me the3y have no difficulty in reducing and stamping the Medals.

 

I feel certain that this Medal will be just as interesting as the Coin, besides being of more historical value.

 

If everything is entirely satisfactory and you are going to have the medals struck by the Medallic Art Company, please inform me immediately and I will turn the design over to them so that they may proceed with the work without delay.

 

On account of my health I have refused work within the last year, and as a result I have very little to do at the present time, and it occurred to me that possibly I might be able to proceed with the Civil War memorial, of the Lincoln, and in this respect I would like to know just about how much money you think you will be able to raise for this purpose. Also, I would like to have a photograph of the site where you propose to place it. I am also reminded of a remark that Mr. Wilbur made on his visit here when he looked at the Coin, he spoke of a monument of some kind to ‘Ira Allen’ also some Medals which one of the Historical Societies proposed to have made. I mention these things because I would like to get busy on something right soon.

 

With kindest personal regards and good wishes, I am

 

Very respectfully yours,

 

(signed) Charles Keck

 

C. K. - R

 

 

FROM: Correspondence: Vermont Sesquicentennial Commission – miscellaneous on commemorative coin, 1925-1927, Box 22 folder 2. John Spargo Papers, Special Collections, University of Vermont Library.

 

 

Hope all enjoyed some history today.

 

 

:)

 

 

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Additionally:

 

A pleasing feature of the Vermont Sesqui-Centennial Celebration which took place during this day (Monday, August 15, 1927) was the informal presentation of silver replicas of the Vermont-Bennington Sesqui-Centennial medal to the following gentlemen: Governor John E. Weeks, Frank L. Fish, James C. Colgate, Fred C. Martin, Edward L. Bates and John Spargo. Six copies of the medal only were struck in silver. They were struck from the same dies as the original bronze issue. Each medal was engraved on the edge with the name of the recipient and enclosed in a specially designed exhibition case of green morocco with the name of the recipient in gold on the top.

 

Courtesy Bennington, Vermont, 1777-1927, A Record of the Celebration held at Bennington August 13-16, 1927, In Honor of the One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Battle of Bennington and the One Hundred and Fiftieth Year of the Separate Existence of the State of Vermont. Published by The Vermont Sesqui-Centennial Commission, 1927, p. 57.

 

 

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