Featured Tiffany & Co. Elliott National Academy of Design 1875 First Prize Medal w/ Box!

The other day I stopped in a local coin shop which had a weekly bid board ending then. After looking over the lots on the wall and not seeing too much that I really wanted to bid on, I looked over the large lots and expensive coins which are kept in one of the glass cases instead of being hung up on the bid board. One lot that caught my eye was the following medal, sorry the photos are so dark, was doing the best I could with a borrowed camera set up:






After deciding not to bid on any of the usual corroded Indian Cents, various overpriced junk silver and modern commemoratives that fill most of the bid board, I decided to go for this medal so that I would at least win something! My thinking at the time was that the owner of the shop strongly felt the medal was silver and indicated the medal weighed 4.8 ounces. He didn’t test the medal for silver content since he didn’t want to damage it, but revealed that he bought the piece from a walk in to his shop for silver melt value. In looking at the piece I agreed that it looked to be silver based on the color and the look of the toning on the piece. I did the math quickly in my head and figured it to be worth at least $170 or so in silver. I also the medal was really cool in that it was pretty old, made by Tiffany & Co and it had the original box with it, even though the box was pretty beat up. I also thought it could be pretty fun to try to research this item because I had no idea who Elliott was on the obverse, nor did I have any knowledge of the individual being awarded this medal, nor did I know what the winner had done to win this medal.

As the bid deadline approached, only myself and one other person were actively bidding on this medal. We were both standing near the bid tag for the medal and every 10-15 seconds or so the underbidder would mark their new bid, bumping the item up in $10 increments from the initial starting price of $150. I was very happy that my competitor finally dropped out of the running with less than a minute of bidding to go and the medal was mine.

After getting the medal home, studying it for awhile and doing some Internet research, I have found out the following information:

The medal is in an old box made of wood and wrapped in leather. As you can see, the box is damaged and the original hinge is completely broken off and missing. The inside cover of the box reads “Tiffany & Co. New York” in gold lettering printed on what I think is a light blue silk.

Although I do not know for sure, the medal does appear to be silver and has mirrored fields which look like an old proof. Even the edge of the medal, which is smooth and has no lettering or marks, is also mirrored proof-like. The medal is 2.5” in diameter and actually weighs in at 5.3 ounces (about half an ounce more than the shop owner told me). The fields of the medal on both sides are hairlined, but the medal also has some pretty neat toning on the surfaces.

The obverse of the medal features a very high relief portrait of Charles Loring Elliott (1812-1868) who was an American painter and considered the best portraitist of his day and the date 1870 (perhaps the date the medal was made?).

Charles Loring Elliott in his younger years


At the base of Elliott it says “W Barber F.” which I assume is for William Barber (1807-1879) who was a director of the U.S. Mint, designer of the Trade Dollar and father of Charles E. Barber who is best known for designing Barber coinage which started up in 1892. I have not figured out what the “F” stands for in this signature.

The reverse of the medal carries the legend “National Academy of Design New York” which surrounds a wreath. Inside the wreath is an engraving which reads “To Lloyd Branson Antique School First Prize 1875.”

The National Academy of Design in New York, now known as the National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, was founded in 1825 “to promote the fine arts in America through instruction and exhibition.” Starting in 1826, the Academy has held annual exhibitions of work by living artists. Today, this annual exhibition is still held by the Academy and is the longest running exhibition of contemporary art in America. It appears the medal I just bought is a First Prize award medal from the 1875 exhibition.

My next step was to research the winner of this First Prize medal, Lloyd Branson. At first I thought it read Bronson… but I eventually figured out it was Branson. Anyways, the medal was awarded to Enoch Lloyd Branson (1853-1925) who was an artist who was best known for his portraits of Southern politicians and depictions of early Tennessee and the Appalachian frontier. Many of the sources on Branson refer to his education at the National Academy of Design in New York and many sources note is first prize win in 1875 for a drawing of a Greek gladiator. I have not been able to find any images of his winning work. From his Wikipedia entry, it appears that winning first prize also earned him a scholarship to receive further training in Paris.

Enoch Lloyd Branson in 1911


I then searched the Internet to see if I could find any other Tiffany 1870 Elliott medals. I tried several searches and was only able to find two other examples. One is a bronze example which is housed in the Brooklyn Museum. The medal appears identical to mine other than the composition and lack of a personal engraving on the reverse. This medal appears to have no box and the museum website also does not attribute the medal as being made by Tiffany & Co.



You can see the Brooklyn Museum page on the medal here: http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/4873/Charles_Loring_Elliott_Medal

To my amazement and quite obviously with a great deal of luck, the only other 1870 Elliott Medal I was able to find in searching the Internet just happened to be the Second Prize medal from the same 1875 Antique School competition! The Second Prize medal appears to be made of bronze and was awarded to Theodore Robinson (1852-1896) who was an American painter best known for his impressionist landscapes. In my quick research, even though Robinson won second prize to Branson in the 1875 exhibition, it appears that Robinson was somewhat more successful as an artist and seems to be better known today.




This bronze medal also looks to be a match to the example in the Brooklyn Museum except for the added reverse engraving. This piece also has a box that appears to match the box of my piece, only in better condition and with green interior instead of blue (perhaps that is just the lighting?). This Second Prize medal was auctioned by Bunte Auction Services, Inc. on September 25, 2005 (Lot 1400F) and was sold for $4,000 (not including the buyer’s premium)!! Of course, I realize the auction price may be more related to the popularity of the recipient of the award, Mr. Robinson, than to the rarity of the medal itself.

You can see the auction information on the Robinson Second Prize medal here:
http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/1238040

At this time, I still do not know if I have a medal that’s worth its melt value (and am still not 100% sure it’s even silver!) or if I have a medal worth thousands of dollars. In any event, I already know a great deal more than I knew at the time of purchase. I also feel that I got a great deal on this medal as I know that I have already had enough fun with this medal to know I received my money’s worth!

Anyways, thought some of you might enjoy the story and the medal. And maybe some of you may have some additional information regarding this piece or other prize medals made by Tiffany & Co. during this time?


:thumb:

 

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Nice! :thumb:

 

I believe the "F" after Barber's name is the Latin for the word "fabricator". . . fabricius or something like that.

 

The tone of the metal in these photos looks to be silver and looks like someone at one time was very proud of this metal as the hairlines in the fields were prob from them wipeing it with a cloth, Nice Metal ! Looks like you posted about a year ago, Have you any more info since then?

 

Since originally posting this story I was able to confirm the medal is silver, was designed by William Barber and they were struck by the U.S. Mint for the National Academy of Design. It appears most likely that the medals were delivered to the National Academy of Design unengraved. Then, after the competition, it appears the medals were sent to Tiffany & Co. for engraving.After making the post about the medal, I was contacted by a couple of museums about the piece, one who was very interested in the medal as a piece about Charles Loring Elliott and others because it was won by Lloyd Branson. I was also contacted by a few art collectors who wanted to add the piece to their collections.Right now, the medal is being exhibited in Knoxville, TN at the East Tennessee History Center as part of an exhibit that is running about East Tennesse Art and Artists. I'll update the original thread with this information and some photos of the exhibit when I have a chance. :thumb:

 

I found what looks to be a modern repliac/restrike of this coin made in silver plate by the Medallic Art Company. Have you come across anything like this and if so, do you have any idea when exactly they would've been making this?

 

Beautiful medals! The "F" after Barber's name stands for the Latin word "fecit", which means "[he] made it"; thus "W Barber F" would mean "William Barber made it".

 

Awesome.... thank you for sharing your research with us.

 

I wonder what illini ever did with it.

 

We were just talking about this medal not too long ago, and I believe illini420 said it was now in a museum? Hopefully he will post to confirm.

 

Yep, the medal was donated and is now owned by the East Tennessee Historical Society. Not sure if they keep it on display or not, but I know they really enjoyed having it along with the many Lloyd Branson paintings they have.

I know the piece was also recently featured in a book about Branson's artwork which was pretty neat to see... the author even sent me a copy of the book which was pretty nice of them.

 

yes.

 

Wow, that's a nice medal from Tiffany & Co., excellent research on it illini. The toning is amazing!

 

This is really neat. Thanks, Peter, for featuring it!

 

Great find!! Glad you donated it to a museum too.

 

Did you ever find out if it was worth melt value or thousands?

 

Never figured out exactly what it was worth... would have needed to auction it and make sure all those interested knew about the auction to really see what it would have been worth for certain. But I did have cash offers from multiple parties well into the thousands of dollars. I would guess that there would have been a bidding war if it went to auction and who knows how badly each party really wanted it and how far they would have bid it up.

Anyways, it was a lucky find for me at a local shop and certainly the coolest thing I've ever won off the local bid boards. Most likely could have made more money off of the piece, but I did well enough and it's not always about the money. I think the medal is back where it really belongs now and is in a place where it can be enjoyed by many... that was much more important.

 

Yeah I think you did the right thing, if you just auctioned it off the person that would win it would just keep it in a safe for years and years until his grand children would sell it off to another collector and that piece would never be seen by as many people as it is now.

 

I was a little tempted to sell it to one of the descendants of Lloyd Branson that contacted me as the piece would be a family heirloom that most would like to pass down. But there was more than one person claiming to be a relative who contacted me and if I sold to either of them there was no guarantee the piece would ever see the light of day again.

Would be interesting to know how this piece ever ended up on a bid board in a coin shop in Southern California in the first place. How could this piece ever escape ownership by the family in the first place and then ultimately make its way over 2000 miles west? Will probably never know that part of the story...

 

Great story and find this is what collecting is all about history research it must have been a hard decision to donate over decendants but in a museum all can enjoy were you credited in the display for this unique intersting find?Who knows what more will be learned by your donation like how did it lose ownership and make a 2000 mile trip west some day because of you this might be answered! Good job and thanks for shareing..