Undated (ca. 1777) Voltaire Medal. Musante GW-1, Baker-78. Copper. MS-63 BN (PCGS).39.9 mm. 346.5 grains. Lovely glossy brown surfaces are gently mottled with tones of mahogany, chestnut and tan on both sides. Traces of superficial natural debris cling to the recesses through the tight interstices of the legend, evidence of absolute originality that adds to the overall appeal. A trace of reflectivity is detected in the obverse fields, nicely accentuating the high relief portrait. Double struck as often seen on this issue, but evidence of this is minimal. The strongest artifacts of this are found in the obverse legend near 6 oclock, where a natural flan clip allowed metal to flow outward rather than firmly into the dies. Elsewhere, the details from the primary strike are very hard to find, and the tiny letters of the reverse legend, often blurred by such striking anomalies on Voltaire medals, are crisply delineated. A few trivial handling marks but none is worthy of specific mention, and the overall aesthetic is essentially ideal.<p>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 Washingtons 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.<p>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 by facial features alone with the bronze statue of Hume in Edinburgh, Scotland. Both medals are clearly by the same hand, as are two other rare works. One is a medal celebrating the Chevalier dEon, the other is the Franklin of Philadelphia medal, a superb example of which may be found in this sale of the Richard August holdings. Aside from stylistic similarities and shared letter punches, the most distinctive feature all these finely engraved medals share is the conspicuous absence of a signature, adding a degree of mystery to them all. <p>Of these four, it would seem that only the Washington medal, long and probably mistakenly named for Voltaire, was a commercial success. The other three range from very scarce (the Franklin and dEon medals), to extremely rare (the Hume medal).<p>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 Paris in 1778, 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 a worthy gift is not insignificant, as it speaks to an undeniable degree of satisfaction in the work and a recognition of its historical significance by one 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 Washingtons character and talent. It is the ideal medallic representation to lead off the series.From the Richard August Collection.
