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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;mrbrklyn, post: 185146, member: 4381&quot;]Peace Dollar Model: A Modest Miss Liberty</p><p><br /></p><p>For more than 70 years, Teresa Cafarelli de Francisci enjoyed an unusual distinction: She could reach in her purse and pull out a coin that bore her likeness. In 1921, as a young bride, she had posed for her sculptor husband, Anthony de Francisci, when he fashioned the portrait of a graceful female figure for that coin – one that came to be known as the Peace dollar.</p><p><br /></p><p>“What he wanted,” she recalled many years later, “was a portrait of liberty – an idealized portrait of what it represented to him. I posed for it; whatever he got from life, he got from me. But he didn’t set out to make a portrait of me, and I wouldn’t really say that’s what it was.” Still, it is apparent that Miss Liberty and Mrs. de Francisci were one and the same, for the coinage portraitstrongly resembles photographs of the model taken at about the same time.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Peace dollar was born in a limited competition: Anthony de Francisci was one of nine artists invited by the U.S. Treasury to participate. “Anthony never expected he would win,” his model confided. “He was so young at the time, and some of the finest men in the country were invited.” Among them were Adolph A. Weinman, designer of the “Mercury” dime and Walking Liberty half dollar; Hermon A. MacNeil, designer of the Standing Liberty quarter; and Victor D. Brenner, designer of the Lincoln cent. A year before, de Francisci had designed the 1920 Maine commemorative half dollar – and that, in all likelihood, lay behind the Treasury’s decision to invite him. Still, he was only 34 – and while he was regarded as a gifted young sculptor, he seemed to have little chance against such glittering superstars.</p><p><br /></p><p>“Anthony was so certain he would lose,” his widow said, “that he told his artist friends, ‘I’ll give you a silver dollar if I win.’ Then, when he did win, we ordered 50 pieces from the Mint – and he gave them all away to keep his promise. He never even kept one for himself.” Today, those 50 pieces have far more than sentimental value. All were dated 1921 – and well-struck specimens of the 1921 Peace dollar now command a strong four-figure premium. The sculptor never did have a 1921 Peace dollar, Mrs. de Francisci said. “We were never collectors,” she explained. “Anthony was content to do the creating and let others do the collecting.”</p><p><br /></p><p>The de Franciscis were newlyweds at the time of the competition. They had been introduced by Teresa’s brother, Michael Cafarelli, who had met de Francisci at art school in New York. Both had been born in Italy, and both had emigrated to the United States at early ages. Through the years, Anthony de Francisci did many important works, both large and small, but while his output included numerous medals, he designed no further coins. One of his final medallic works was the official medal for the 1964 New York World’s Fair. He also served for many years as an instructor of sculpture at Columbia University. He died in 1964 at the age of 76. Teresa de Francisci survived him by three decades, dying in the early 1990s at the age of 92.</p><p><br /></p><p>Mrs. de Francisci served as her husband’s model on other occasions, too. Soon after they were married, for example, he sculpted a large relief of his dark-haired bride. To coin collectors, though, she will always be the fresh-faced Miss Liberty on one of Uncle Sam’s loveliest coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>Return to Featured Articles[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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