My wife has two interesting medals from her dad's estate that she is considering selling and I have volunteered to try and find out more about them. Yes, it's true, I am the perfect husband... Here is the first medal: The medal has LEUTZE DEL. and ELLIS SC. inscribed. My limited research implies that it is a United States Lifesaving medal designed by Emanuel Leutze. Judging by the size and weight (66mm and 119 grams) this may be a Julian LS-1 or LS-2. Onto the second medal: Inscription is NAPOLEON III - EMPEREUR and signed M. Ponsoarme on the obverse and EXPOSITION UNIVERSELLE DE MDCCCLXVII A PARIS RECOMPENSES on the reverse with L.W. FAIRCHILD in the center. L.W. Fairchild was a company that manufactured fancy gold fountain pens. And MDCCCLXVII is 1847. That's about all I know. Any info on either of these medals would be greatly appreciated.
On the first medal, is the name of the artist imprinted anywhere on it? About the second medal: It is an award medal for the Universal Exposition of 1867 (not 1847). It was designed by Francois Joseph Hubert Ponscarme (spelling corrected on the last name) who was born at Belmont-les-Monthureux (Vosges) on May 20, 1827 and died at Malakoff (Seine) on February 28, 1903. He was a pupil of Oudine, Vauthie and Dumont. Besides this award medal, Ponscarme also produced a commemorative medal for the Exposition with the same image of Napoleon III on the obverse, but I have no image of the reverse. The list of Ponscarme's medallic productions is far too extensive to include here. Chris
Thanks for the great info Chris, much appreciated. Here is an obverse and reverse photo of the other medal that Ponscarme produced for the Exposition: http://maxentius.lamoneta.it/PagineMedaglie/EspUniv1867.htm I think I prefer the reverse!
By the way, the "F" that follows Ponscarme is not one of his initials. The French and other European medallists commonly use it. It is an abbreviation for the Latin word "fecit" (pronounced fetch-it) which means "He made it." Sometimes, you will see it preceding the name.........artistic license! Chris
The first medal is LS-1, "Lifesaving/Shipwreck" an official U.S. Mint medal listed in Julian's medal reference as "State Department" (Leutze) after the designer, Emanuel Leutze, who is better known for his painting of Washington Crossing the Delaware. The medals were struck in gold, silver, and bronze. The blank scroll about the rescued/rescuing figures is for engraving of a recipient, so this would be considered an "unawarded" medal. An AU58 (near-Mint State) example in this Heritage auction brought $632.50: ha.com/1100*28139 PS Don't clean your wife's medals! My apologies if you know this ...
According to Forrer in his Biographical Dictionary of Medallists, "These medals were struck for presentation to officers of vessels of foreign nations, as an acknowledgment of their services, in saving the lives and property of shipwrecked Americans." Chris
