Benjamin Franklin

1906 Benjamin Franklin Birth Bicentennial Medal. U.S. Mint Striking. By Augustus and Louis Saint-Gaudens. Greenslet GM-119. Bronze. Plain Edge. About Uncirculated, Cleaned.

101 mm. This boldly rendered and visually impressive piece is free of significant rub with no sizable handling marks. Wispy hairlines and a bright pinkish-rose color explain our qualifier. A few flecks of verdigris in some of the protected areas are also noted. Conceived in 1903 by the American Philosophical Society (of which Franklin was once a member) and authorized by Congress in 1904, this glorious medal took nearly 16 months of work by Augustus and Louis Saint-Gaudens. Tiffany & Co. was chosen to strike the Congressionally authorized example in gold as well as 150 additional examples in bronze, with 100 of those going to the United States government for distribution, and the other 50 going to the American Philosophical Society for its purposes. This first strikings all have the TIFFANY edge mark. After the presentation ceremony, the American Philosophical Society decided it needed more of the medals and received permission to use the dies to strike an additional 200 medals at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia during February 1907. Examples from that mintage lack the TIFFANY edge mark, as here.

Estimate: $ 1000