1906 Benjamin Franklin Birth Bicentennial Medal. Bronze. 101 mm. By Augustus and Louis Saint-Gaudens. Greenslet GM-118. Rarity-4. TIFFANY & CO. Edge. Mint State. Here is a beautiful example of this master work of brothers August and Louis Saint-Gaudens, the premier sculptors of their day. Dominant medium brown patina, tinges of pale rose and olive are evident as the surfaces rotate under a light. The design elements are boldly rendered with crisp detail throughout. A few faint carbon spots and light verdigris within the more protected areas around some of the design elements are all that preclude a Choice Mint State rating.Conceived in 1903 by the American Philosophical Society (of which Franklin was a member) and authorized by Congress in 1904, this glorious medal took nearly 16 months of work by Augustus and Louis Saint-Gaudens, with the former providing the hard work and attention to all the details to bring the project to completion amidst bouts of intense pain from colon cancer and Louis absence traveling "out West." Augustus had originally accepted the work on the Benjamin Franklin birth bicentennial medal on behalf of his brother Louis, who, though admittedly a better sculptor than Augustus, had no taste or mind for the details that would drive a sculpture or medal project from inception to completion. The design went through several iterations, including a complete redesign of the obverse at the 11th hour, at the suggestion of Secretary of State Elihu Root, whose approval was required as the sole example in gold was to be presented to the Republic of France as a diplomatic gift. The Franklin medal project ended up delaying Augustus work on Roosevelts "pet crime," the redesign of the gold coinage that we cherish today. In the end, Tiffany & Co. was chosen to strike the Congressionally authorized example in gold as well as 150 in bronze, with 100 going to the U.S. government for distribution, and the other 50 going to the American Philosophical Society for its purposes. These presumably have the TIFFANY & CO edge mark, as here. After the presentation ceremony, the American Philosophical Society decided it wanted more of the medals and received permission to use the dies, which were produced outside of the U.S. Mint, to strike an additional 200 medals by the Mint in February 1907. These of course lack the TIFFANY & CO edge mark (Greenslet GM-119), and evidently a large quantity of these remain with the American Philosophical Society today, having never been distributed more than a century ago. From the Richard Jewell Collection.
