"Philodemic Society": Intaglio seal matrix carved on 1838 Coronet large cent

"Philodemic Society": Intaglio seal matrix carved on 1838 Coronet large cent



Larger obverse image
Larger reverse image

Host coin: 1838 USA Coronet large cent.
Obverse: original Coronet Liberty Head design, unaltered except for traces of old mounting at center.
Reverse: intaglio carving of a Federal eagle carrying olive branch[?], with lyre and rays above, "+ + + + + Philodemica Societas ~ G [?] I [?] + + + + +" in italic script below.

Ex-"numismaniacal", eBay, 11/16/2015.

I found this piece fascinating, and liked the eagle on it. It appears to have been a hand-carved intaglio seal matrix, though I'm not sure whether it was intended to make inked impressions or wax seals for documents. I suspect the latter.

The Philodemic Society is a literary society and debating organization which was founded at Georgetown University in 1830 and is still in existence today. The seal for which the coin was carved must have been fairly early, judging from its style and the fact that the current seal of the society now appears to be different, featuring a caduceus crossed with a liberty cap on a pole. I rather prefer the eagle and lyre seen here.

I had to beat out some solid competition for this piece on eBay, but was happily able to win it for around two-thirds of the "nuclear" snipe I had set.

You must admit it's intriguing, and is quite possibly unique.



This was formerly part of my "Oddball" exonumia collection, until a friend twisted my arm hard enough to convince me to sell it to him. Still, I'm reposting some of my former pieces from that collection over here on CoinTalk.

I'm also keeping a few of the holed pieces to put on my trademark "Holey Coin Hat".

 

That is almost certainly where the little knob handle for the seal would have been mounted, long ago.