1784 Benjamin Franklin / Winged Genius Medal. By Augustin Dupre. Betts-619, Adams-Bentley 14. Bronze. Plain Edge. MS-62 BN (PCGS).46 mm. An extremely rare entry among post-Revolutionary War Betts medals, a classic in the series. Choice medium brown with lightly reflective fields that yield subtle violet and golden tones. Some scattered contact marks are visible on both sides, but no significant high point friction. A little batch of shallow scratches is noted in the upper right reverse field, some light spotting above the winged genius and below TYRANNIS, another spot below the Roman numerals CC in the obverse exergue.<p>Accomplished by Dupre in thoughtful form, this variety depicts a motif that goes along with the legend, from Turgot, translating as He snatched lightning from the heavens and the scepter from tyrants. This should rank high on most Betts connoisseurs want lists, particularly for its adoptive place into the Comitia Americana series, via its connection to Franklin and Dupre. Adams and Bentley listed only two bronze examples known to them: the Ford specimen and the Adams specimen, the latter of which was struck from an original obverse and a copy reverse. Deeper into the text, they described this Betts number as probably mid to low R-7, but then cited another example struck from the replacement copy reverse. Unless a significant number of new discoveries await, this appears to be High Rarity-7 in bronze. We know of the following originals struck from the original obverse and original reverse dies:<p>1 - The LaRiviere specimen in bronze. Unappreciated at the time and an all-time auction bargain at $900 hammer.<p>2 - The Ford specimen in silver. Ford:345; later, Adams: 2099.<p>3 - The Ford specimen in bronze. Ford: 346; later, our August 2012 sale, lot 4092.<p>4 - Bronze. Ex our ANA Auction of August 2013, lot 1010. <em><strong>The present example</strong></em>.<p>5 - Bronze. Ex our ANA Auction of August 2021, lot 5012.<p>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.<p>It is remarkable that none are located in the major institutional collections surveyed by Adams and Bentley.From our Chicago ANA Auction of August 2013, lot 1010.
