1781 (1783) Libertas Americana Medal. Copper. 47 mm. By Augustin Dupre. Betts-615, Adams-Bentley 15. MS-64 BN (PCGS). CAC.
A beautiful head of Liberty with flowing hair faces left with a liberty pole behind the portrait, the inscription LIBERTAS. AMERICANA. above and the date 4 JUIL. 1776. below in exergue. <strong>Rev:</strong> The young United States as the infant Hercules strangling two serpents and being protected from the British lion by France, depicted as Minerva, the inscription NON SINE DIIS ANIMOSUS INFANS. (The infant is not bold without divine aid.) is above and the dates 17 OCT. 1777. and 19 OCT. 1781. are below in exergue.
This handsome and fully original near-Gem would make an ideal addition to an advanced cabinet of early American medals. The obverse is toned in a blend of autumn-orange, olive-gray and reddish-copper, the reverse more evenly patinated in warm medium copper. Sharply defined even over the highest elements of the design, both sides exhibit a smooth satin texture that is free of detracting marks. Were it not for several tiny, faint carbon flecks scattered about in the fields, this premium quality example would have graded even higher at PCGS. Outstanding!<p>Struck in Paris to commemorate peace following the American victory over Great Britain in the Revolutionary War, the Libertas Americana is 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 give to a select few 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, most of the medals struck during March and April of the following year. 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, but Minerva keeping the British lion at bay 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.<p>All original Libertas Americana medals are scarce-to-rare pieces (Paris Mint restrikes of later years have minimal value) with most examples encountered in todays market being bronze impressions -- Franklins preferred format -- of which approximately 100-125 medals are known. Far rarer are the silver strikings that Franklin himself presented to French ministers, "as a monumental acknowledgement, which may go down to future ages, of the obligations [the United States is] under to [the French] nation." We believe that only 25-30 original Libertas Americana Medals in silver are extant. (Two gold strikings that Franklin presented to King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette of France are not traced.)
