1905 John Paul Jones Medallic Plaque. Bronze. 80.7 x 60.5 mm. By Victor David Brenner. Miller-16; Smedley-128. Mint State. Obv: Bust of the naval hero over a laurel branch, facing half left and looking upward. His name and vital dates are in the border below. Rev: elaborate funeral procession with winged Victory sounding her horn at the right, and a small American Numismatic Society seal at the lower left. An incuse legend reads AMERICA RECLAIMS HER ILLUSTRIOUS DEAD at the top and PARIS - ANNAPOLIS 1905 at the bottom. The edge is impressed with the (cornucopia) BRONZE mark of the Paris Mint where 100 each of the silver and bronze version of this plaque were produced. Issued to commemorate the return of John Paul Jones body to the United States after over a century of repose in an abandoned and built-over Paris cemetery. From the Richard Jewell Collection.
