1784 Benjamin Franklin / Winged Genius Medal. Original. Betts-619, Greenslet GM-35, Adams-Bentley 14. Bronze. AU-55 (PCGS).
45.7 mm. 673.4 grains. Plain, concave edge. Flattened collar mark near 2 o'clock relative to the obverse. An old friend, acquired by Mr. August from our May 2001 LaRiviere III sale. Dick did not buy many of his Betts medals from major auctions, but he knew a bargain when he saw it. When we composed a census of known original examples of this Betts number in November 2024, this medal was listed atop the list. The census was written as follows: 1 - The LaRiviere specimen in bronze. Unappreciated at the time and an all-time auction bargain at $900 hammer. 2 - The Ford specimen in silver. Ford:345; later, Adams: 2099. 3 - The Ford specimen in bronze. Ford: 346; later, our August 2012 sale, lot 4092. 4 - Bronze. Ex our ANA Auction of August 2013, lot 1010. 5 - Bronze. Ex our ANA Auction of August 2021, lot 5012. 6 - The Margolis specimen in bronze. Ex J. Douglas Ferguson and George Fuld Collections; Alan Weinberg, to Phil Keller, October 1986; Phil Keller, September 1994; Richard Margolis; our sale of the Richard Margolis Collection, Spring 2024 Auction, April, lot 1084. Leave it to Mr. August to sniff out a bargain on a rarity that was unappreciated at the time. Others may not have known how rare it was, but he sure did. Back in 2001, we described this medal as: medium chocolate and mahogany brown with glossy surfaces and some darker reverse mottling. Several light handling marks, the most serious of which is a scratch in the left obverse field, and a few areas of light verdigris around protected areas of the legend. The eye appeal is overall quite nice for this very scarce medal. Boldly double struck to bring up the full detail of this very high relief die. It remains lovely today, richly original, verdigris and all, utterly left alone by two old-school collectors with an intimate connection: it was Mr. August who started Mr. LaRiviere, his fellow resident of Providence, down the path of collecting these medals decades and decades ago. Undoubtedly when Dick saw this medal, he saw it for more than a rarity that sold to cheap. It represented an old, close friendship, and we have the same feelings today. This medal, conceived and designed by Dupre as a monument to his friend Franklin, is perhaps still unappreciated. Dupre originally wanted to allegorize Franklin as Hercules on the reverse, but instead this more elegant design was selected, showing a winged genius pantomiming what Turgot famously attributed to Franklin: he captured lightning from the heavens and the sceptre from tyrants. The reverse legend is the Latin rendering of Turgot's pithy and perfect summation of Franklin's career. We have sold every known original specimen of this medal in private hands. Adams and Bentley found zero specimens held by institutions, and Adams lacked an example himself. Our last offering, of the Margolis MS-62 BN (PCGS) specimen, brought $18,000.
From the Richard August Collection. Earlier ex New Netherlands Coin Company; Lucien M. LaRiviere; our (Bowers and Merena's) sale of the Cabinet of Lucien M. LaRiviere, Part III, May 2001, lot 1116.

Estimate: $12000