1905 Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Medals

[BillJones]

 

In 1905 there were two inaugural medals issued for Theodore Roosevelt (show above). The first was designed by Charles Barber (obverse) and George Morgan (reverse) and struck by the firm, Joseph K. Davisson, of Philadelphia. Teddy Roosevelt was not happy with this piece and asked Augustus St. Gaudens to design a alternative piece. This would be the opening shot in a war that would develop with Roosevelt and St. Gaudens on one side and Charles Barber on the other. The end results would be the 1907 High Relief $20 gold coins and the $10 Indian gold pieces.

 

St. Gaudens agreed to do the work, but only if the U.S. mint was kept out of the process. In the 1890s St. Gaudens had had two run-ins with the mint. The first had been over the over the re-design of the dime, quarter and half dollar in 1891. Later the great artist had had a bigger disagreement over a medal that he designed for the Columbian Exposition. Ultimately St. Gaudens' obverse for the medal had been paired with Barber's reverse, which St. Gaudens viewed as inferior and pedestrian, without St. Gaudens' permission. That left the artist angry and frustrated and vowing never to cross paths with U.S. mint personnel again. St. Gaudens agreed to do the alternative Roosevelt inaugural medal out of respect for the Roosevelt and only if Tiffany & Co. was commissioned to execute it.

 

St. Gaudens had more work than he could handle (as usual) so he turned the execution of the dies for the medal over to one of his former students, Adolph Weinman. Weinman would later design the Mercury dime and the Walking Liberty half dollar. Weinman produced the dies, and the combined signature mark of Weinman and St. Gaudens appears at the bottom of the reverse. Tiffany & Co. cast the medals (they were not struck) and the pieces were executed their usual high standards.

 

 

The obverse featured a bust of Roosevelt with his name and his office, "President of the United States of America." The Greek phrase, "AQUUM CUIQUE" appears to the right of Roosevelt, which translates as "To each, that which is equitable" which was a fancy way of expressing one of Roosevelt's campaign slogans, "A square deal all around." The reverse, which features a magnificent eagle would be the inspiration for the bird that would appear on the reverse of Indian $10 gold piece.

 

The mintage for the St. Gaudens inaugural medal was 125 pieces in bronze and three in gold. The gold medals were given to Roosevelt, vice president Fairbanks and the chairman of the inaugural committee. Three thousand of the Davisson medals were stuck. They were awarded to those who had lesser roles in the inaugural celebration.

 

Here are the reverse of the Indian $10 gold and a TR "square deal" button from his 1912 "Bull Moose" presidential campaign.

 

 

[RWB]

The Saint-Gaudens medals were not produced until July 1905 - well after the inauguration. TR stated privately that he didn't think a lot of the portrait. Saint-Gaudens complained that production was inferior to that of small artisans in Paris.

 

Weinman did not prepare dies...only the working models.

 

[Details in "Renaissance of American Coinage 1905-1908."Also, "Striking Change" discusses this as part of disagreement between Barber and Saint-Gaudens.]

 

[RWB]

PS: “This would be the opening shot in a war that would develop with Roosevelt and St. Gaudens on one side and Charles Barber on the other."

 

The statement is not completely true. SG and CB got on each other’s nerves beginning with the 1890-91 competition for new silver coin designs. SG was commissioned to design the Columbian award medal, but did not deliver his revised design until well past the deadline. Thus, Barber was ordered to create something that could be used by the medal contractor, Scoville & Co.

 

There was no real competition about the new gold designs of 1907. SG had been commissioned to design the cent and $20 and did so. Barber executed the $20 reductions and hubs, with the help of Henri Weil, and evidently did so faithfully so far as he was able. Barber also had 8 EHR MCMVII pieces in his personal collection – not bad for someone who was supposed to "despise" SG's work.

 

Most of the conflict was cooked up to help sell coins, and by Breen to make himself look authoritative and is not based on fact.

 

[BillJones]

The statement is not completely true. SG and CB got on each other’s nerves beginning with the 1890-91 competition for new silver coin designs. SG was commissioned to design the Columbian award medal, but did not deliver his revised design until well past the deadline. Thus, Barber was ordered to create something that could be used by the medal contractor, Scoville & Co.

 

Roosevelt was not involved in the 1890-1 competition for the new silver coins. I wrote that Roosevelt and St. Gaudens were involved with the later dispute with was true enough.

 

Barber did try to get involved in the 1907 double eagle re-design. He created a unique pattern which got nowhere.

 

TR stated privately that he didn't think a lot of the portrait. Saint-Gaudens complained that production was inferior to that of small artisans in Paris.

 

Neither did Cornelius Vermeule. He also didn't care for the TR portrait on the St. Guudens inaugural medal.

 

As SG and the French, he obviously had little use for the American shops although I can't agree with him in total. Didn't the French push the metal makers into the ugly "yellow bronze" stuff with the deadly Matte surfaces?

[RWB]

"Barber did try to get involved in the 1907 double eagle re-design. He created a unique pattern which got nowhere."

 

The pattern piece you mention was not a proposed design. The obv was by Barber and the rev by Morgan. It was cobbled together near the end of December 1906 so that the edge lettering could be tested. TR had already selected the sculptor and the design. But all of it required testing.

 

Re: TR. OK--misunderstood your original comments.

[BODIN]

Bill, you got such a steal in the price you paid for this exquisite example of a rare medal. I've been cataloging the various Roosevelt(SG) medals that have come up for auction the last 5 years so as to help me with pricing and condition.Yours is a WINNER! As you may remember, I too collect Inaugural medals, in fact it's my favorite collection OVER coins. I'm still saving up for the big 3(Coolidge, Roosevelt(Tiffany), and Harding). Although if a pre-Eisenhower silver piece comes up for auction in the meantime, that'll set me back from completing my bronze collection. Or the Eisenhower and Kennedy Inaugural Charms. SO RARE! I know you only collect presidents you like, but I did pick up one of the 5 known SAMPLE medals from Woodrow Wilson's first Inaugural. 3 have SAMPLE on the obverse & reverse. Only 2 have it solely on the obverse. I think it's neat! .......What a collection you have, Bill! Thanks for sharing.

 

[BillJones]

I do have a 1913 Wilson inaugural medal that I bought in a Stack's sale. I bid on the sample piece, but dropped out. It's just as well that went to someone else who might be a Wilson admirer. I'm not, but I decided to keep the collection going. I did buy a Harding mint Medal to take the place of the real thing. With less than ten known, I don't think that "my turn" will ever come up on one of those.

 

And yes, that TR medal by SG was better than the pieces I have seen at the shows.

[RWB]

Or Coolidge.

 

[BillJones]

Yes, Coolidge too.

 

There was one in a Stack's sale that I attended, but I did not like it for the price, which was over $13k.

[BODIN]

I believe the Coolidge medal went for 19k+ and guess who the lucky winner was? None other than Joe Levine. He made a huge upgrade to his personal collection. Interestingly enough, I've been tracking these medals for the last five years and this was only the second one to come up for auction in that time. There were less than 60 of the Coolidge medals made I believe. With a mintage of less than 18, I've seen different specimens of the Harding medal come up for auction 4 times in those same 5 years. Amazingly, the last one sold for around 20k.