Undated (ca. 1777) Voltaire Medal. Musante GW-1, Baker-78B. Bronze. MS-64 BN (PCGS).
39.9 mm. 349.6 grains. Rich chocolate and mahogany brown, with an area of deeply faded tan in the lower quarter of the obverse. Traces of vibrant original red remain close to many of the reverse letters, with faded accents of the same being seen through some of the intricacies of the central reverse. Beautifully struck, multiply so, as usual, but with all the elements crisply defined and the fields gently prooflike. A slightly later die state with a reverse rim break near 8 o'clock. This is among the most handsome examples we have offered. The Voltaire medal is a must-have for any serious collection of Washington portrait medals, as it is the first such piece known to have been produced. The fact that the portrait is clearly not Washington's has never clouded its status or desirability, as the legends clarify the intent. No one is certain who made this medal, or even its country of origin, but it is clearly European, and people in Europe who knew what Washington looked like were very few and far between. Benjamin Franklin, living in Paris at the time, was one of those people. The portrait is virtually identical to that seen on a very rare medal celebrating Scottish philosopher David Hume. It is not particularly convincing as his portrait either, but a fairly good argument could be made for such attribution if compared with the bronze statue of Hume in Edinburgh, Scotland, by facial features alone. Both medals are clearly by the same hand, as are two other rare works. One is a medal celebrating the Chevalier d'Eon, the other is the Franklin of Philadelphia medal. Aside from stylistic similarities and shared letter punches, the most distinctive feature shared by all these finely engraved medals is the conspicuous absence of a signature, adding a degree of mystery to them all. Of these four issues, it would seem only the Washington medal, long and probably mistakenly named for Voltaire, was a commercial success. The other three range from very scarce in the case of the Franklin and d'Eon medals, to extremely rare in the case of the Hume. What we do know of this issue is the following: The medals were being struck as of April 1778, and there is reason to believe that striking had commenced in 1777. We also know that Benjamin Franklin was in the possession of one in 1778, in Paris, and that he made a gift of it that same year. There is a good chance he knew the author of these medals, but his papers have revealed no clues. The fact that Franklin felt it worthy as a gift is not insignificant, as it speaks to an undeniable degree of satisfaction in the work, and a recognition of its historical significance by someone who understood the value of such medallic monuments. From this, we can also say that this medal, from its very genesis, has been accepted as an important memorial to Washington's character and talent.
Ex A.H. Baldwin & Sons, October 1973; John J. Ford, Jr.; our (Stack's) sale of the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, Part XIV, lot 326; Sydney F. Martin; our sale of the Sydney F. Martin Collection, Part II, Winter 2022 Auction, November lot 2001, as PCGS MS-63 BN.

Estimate: $3000