1917 American Geographic Society David Livingstone Centenary Medal. Gilt Bronze. 75.2 mm. By Gutzon Borglum to Manuel Vincente (sic) Ballivian. Baxter-251. Edge Marked TIFFANY & Co BRONZE m. About Uncirculated.，This important medal is dusky mustard-gold with some surface dirt and light scattered spotting. This is a very rare piece that purports to be an awarded medal to the famed Bolivian geographer Ballivian, but apparently this specimen was retained by Tiffany -- it seems his middle name is misspelled (Vicente, not Vincente), which may be the reason this medal was not given to the award winner. Ballivians obituary includes mention of this medal first among the lengthy list of medals he received. There were actually two recipients of this medal in 1917, the second year it was awarded: the other was Theodore Roosevelt. Only 32 specimens have been presented to various notables in the world of geography, including Admiral Richard Byrd (1929) and Lincoln Ellsworth (1936), the South Pole explorer who also happened to be the son of famed numismatist Col. James Ellsworth. A very rare medal, and a much more convenient example of Borglums sculptural skills to collect than say, Mount Rushmore or Stone Mountain! It is one of the most important, and rarest, of the few medallic commissions completed by Borglum.From our sale of the Reinhold R. Giersch Collection, March 2014, lot 106.
