The Largest Piece in My Collection - The Grant Vicksburg Meal

[BillJones]

On December 17, 1863 Congress voted to award to gold medal to General Ulysses S. Grant for his victory at the Battle of Vicksburg. The medal would also sight his victory at Chattanooga, and symbolically states that the capture of Vicksburg gave the Union side control of the Mississippi River.

 

Anthony Paquet, who made the dies for that 1861 double eagle which was withdrawn from circulation, designed this piece. The dies were made by John Antrobus, who was from Chicago, for a fee of $2,200. It is a massive 105 mm in diameter. The gold medal that was awarded to Grant contained 28.77 ounces which works out to 2 and a third pounds of gold.

 

The obverse features a handsome portrait of the General Grant and the date on which the Congress awarded him the piece. The reverse features a goddess of commerce, which is similar to the Liberty Seated design that appeared on U.S. coinage for much of the 19th century. Below her is a war trophy design and a view of the Mississippi River.

 

The 19th century mintages were 1 in gold, 1 in silver, 2 in white metal, a few in gutta percha and leather, and 126 examples in copper. The mint did produce modern "yellow bronze" examples of the this medal in the 20th century, but those pieces were only 76 mm in diameter.

 

Here are photos of the obverse and reverse of the medal and a comparative photo of the medal with a silver dollar.

 

 

[Afterword]

Quite impressive - both in terms of mass and artistic display.

[RWB]

Magnificently large medal. Certainly eye-catching and a great part of the collection!

 

Interesting that the designer had a huge space at his disposal, and he disposed of it in with an incredibly banal and ugly design. This must be one of Anthony Paquet's worst efforts, although I can think of others just a awful.

 

Could you tell members why the reverse central shield says "Donelson" ?

 

For a view of the gold medal and its box see: http://amhistory.si.edu/militaryhistory/collection/object.asp?ID=284

[BillJones]

Could you tell members why the reverse central shield says "Donelson" ?

 

 

Fort Donelson along with Fort Henry were two of Grant's early victories in the winter of 1862.

 

To continue the story, here is a photo of the gold medal and box that were awared to Grant. Even the box is a big deal. It is made of ebony, and the hardware on it is made of gold. This was donoted to the Smithsonian by Julia Dent Grant (Grant's widow) and William Vanderbilt.

 

[Rayman311]

That is a nice looking piece. Wonderful overall detail! Thank you for sharing.

[bsshog40]

Awesome piece Bill. Nice history lesson. That awesome gold piece looks like someone cleaned it!

[cpm9ball]

It certainly is a beautiful medal, Bill, and the size is impressive. Thanks for sharing it with us.

 

Chris

[leeg]

Very nice Bill.

 

Thanks for the history lesson.

[brg5658]

Bill, that is a fantastic medal! Pieces of this size in hand just make your jaw drop. And, in the event of home invasion, they double as a weapon!

 

(thumbs u

[johnny9434]

thats a neat sight to see, thanks for sharing that

[MJ]

Excessively cool. Thank you for sharing

 

Mark

[rockhobby]

That is one awesome medal. Thanks for the history lesson Bill. I always find your coins and the history behind them fascinating.

 

Thank you very much for sharing,

 

Doug

[Hard Times]

Big. Bold.

 

Best, HT

[Jon P. Sullivan]

That a huge medal. Beautiful design, and as with most medals, the relief of the design gives it a lot of eye-appeal.