1781 (1782) Libertas Americana Medal. Bronze. 47 mm. By Augustin Dupré. Betts-615, Adams and Bentley-15. MS-64 BN (NGC).
Landing in the number one spot of <em>The 100 Greatest American Medals and Tokens by </em>Jaeger and Bowers, the Libertas Americana medal has always been an object of intense desire. The offered piece is especially attractive. Deep chestnut-brown with exceptional eye appeal, the only distractions of note are a few tiny scattered contact marks in the fields. An original in copper with the die cud front and center beneath the 4 in the obverse date.
Struck in Paris to commemorate peace following the American victory over Great Britain in the Revolutionary War, the Libertas Americana is regarded as the most beautiful and important of the peace medals. The concept and mottos displayed by this medal are attributed to Benjamin Franklin, who at the time was serving as U.S. commissioner to France. While in France, Franklin set about the production of a medal to present to a select few individuals he deemed instrumental in securing American independence. The Libertas Americana medal was to be symbolic of the winning of American liberty, not only on the battlefields of the New World but also in the courts of Europe, most particularly that of France. For without French support American victory over Great Britain would not have been possible. And since it was Franklin who secured the support of the king and queen of France, he was as indispensable to the political victory of the American Colonies as George Washington was to their military victory.
The dies for the Libertas Americana medal were cut in Paris in 1782 by Augustin Dupre. The obverse portrait would later influence the first renditions of Liberty to appear on United States coinage, specifically those of the Liberty Cap copper coinage and the Flowing Hair silver coinage. The reverse design is highly symbolic, the two serpents representing the American victory over the British at the battles of Saratoga and Yorktown, with Minerva keeping the British lion at bay and confirming that ultimate American independence would not have been possible without French aid. The dates in exergue on the reverse are the dates of the victories over General John Burgoyne at Saratoga and General Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown. All original Libertas Americana medals are scarce-to-rare pieces with most examples encountered in todays market being copper impressions, of which approximately 100-125 medals are known. <p>Numismatic Reflections by Q. David Bowers<br />It is always a pleasure to offer a nice example of this famous early American medal. There are enough copper strikings around that opportunities occur at regular intervals, but there are so many people desiring to own this classic that bidding is always intense. The present specimen stands high in quality among others in the field.