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Two Benjamin Franklin Medals by Augustin Dupré
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<p>[QUOTE="johnmilton, post: 4099637, member: 101855"]In 1784, after the Americans and the British signed the Treaty of Paris, which won our independence, Augustin Dupré designed and executed a medal in honor of Benjamin Franklin. Next to George Washington, Franklin was the most important player in the American Revolution. He was able to convince the French to aid us which made a great deal of the difference.</p><p><br /></p><p>The most important military action the French contributed to our cause was the blockade by the French Navy which kept the British Navy from relieving Cornwallis. Cornwallis had not choice to surrender, and that marked the last major engagement of the war.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here is the medal that Dupré designed for Franklin in 1784.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1066044[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1066045[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>The obverse features a portrait of Franklin based upon the bust made by Houdon in 1778. It is surrounded by the words, Benj. Franklin Natus Boston, XVII Jan. MDCCVI. (Benjamin Franklin born in Boston January 17, 1706.</p><p><br /></p><p>The reverse features a winged genius Franklin pointing with his right hand at the lighting bolt that is striking a temple protected by a lighting rod. The lighting rod was one of Franklin's many inventions. With his left hand, Franklin points to a crown and Scepter dashed on the ground. This is surrounded by the words "Eripuit coelo fulmen sceptrumque tyrannis" (He snatched the lightling from the hearvens and the scepter from tyrants.) At the bottom is in three lines, "Sculpsit et dicavit | Aug. Dupre anno | MDCCLXXXIV. (Augustin Dupre engraved and dedicated in the year 1784.</p><p><br /></p><p>This is the "artistic verson" of the medal with the symbolism on the reverse. This a fairly rare medal. The piece shown above has the pointing hand "CUIVRE" which indicates that this piece was struck during the period from 1845 to 1860 at the French Mint.</p><p><br /></p><p>In 1786, Depre made another reverse for this piece. I purchased this piece last week.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1066047[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1066048[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>The obverse is the same. The reverse has the same wording, but the beautiful design on the 1784 medal is replaced by an oak wreath. This medal was also issued by the French Mint during the 1845 to 1860 period. Given that there is more die rust on the the obverse of this piece and some crumbling on the right rim, this piece was struck some time after the previous medal.</p><p><br /></p><p>This was appearantly the "official medal design." Far more of these were made at the French Mint that the prevous design. Perhaps the image of the the crown and scepter on the ground was too much for the French king. The Franklin medal that was included in the set of silver medals that Thomas Jefferson brought to America in the late 1780s had this reverse design.</p><p><br /></p><p>These medals are part of the Cometia America series which was a group of French medals that were made for American heros of the Revolutionary War.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="johnmilton, post: 4099637, member: 101855"]In 1784, after the Americans and the British signed the Treaty of Paris, which won our independence, Augustin Dupré designed and executed a medal in honor of Benjamin Franklin. Next to George Washington, Franklin was the most important player in the American Revolution. He was able to convince the French to aid us which made a great deal of the difference. The most important military action the French contributed to our cause was the blockade by the French Navy which kept the British Navy from relieving Cornwallis. Cornwallis had not choice to surrender, and that marked the last major engagement of the war. Here is the medal that Dupré designed for Franklin in 1784. [ATTACH=full]1066044[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1066045[/ATTACH] The obverse features a portrait of Franklin based upon the bust made by Houdon in 1778. It is surrounded by the words, Benj. Franklin Natus Boston, XVII Jan. MDCCVI. (Benjamin Franklin born in Boston January 17, 1706. The reverse features a winged genius Franklin pointing with his right hand at the lighting bolt that is striking a temple protected by a lighting rod. The lighting rod was one of Franklin's many inventions. With his left hand, Franklin points to a crown and Scepter dashed on the ground. This is surrounded by the words "Eripuit coelo fulmen sceptrumque tyrannis" (He snatched the lightling from the hearvens and the scepter from tyrants.) At the bottom is in three lines, "Sculpsit et dicavit | Aug. Dupre anno | MDCCLXXXIV. (Augustin Dupre engraved and dedicated in the year 1784. This is the "artistic verson" of the medal with the symbolism on the reverse. This a fairly rare medal. The piece shown above has the pointing hand "CUIVRE" which indicates that this piece was struck during the period from 1845 to 1860 at the French Mint. In 1786, Depre made another reverse for this piece. I purchased this piece last week. [ATTACH=full]1066047[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1066048[/ATTACH] The obverse is the same. The reverse has the same wording, but the beautiful design on the 1784 medal is replaced by an oak wreath. This medal was also issued by the French Mint during the 1845 to 1860 period. Given that there is more die rust on the the obverse of this piece and some crumbling on the right rim, this piece was struck some time after the previous medal. This was appearantly the "official medal design." Far more of these were made at the French Mint that the prevous design. Perhaps the image of the the crown and scepter on the ground was too much for the French king. The Franklin medal that was included in the set of silver medals that Thomas Jefferson brought to America in the late 1780s had this reverse design. These medals are part of the Cometia America series which was a group of French medals that were made for American heros of the Revolutionary War.[/QUOTE]
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