(1783) Libertas Americana Medal in Silver MS61 PCGS. Betts-615, Loubat-14. ...

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Rare Silver Libertas Americana Medal, MS61
Betts-615, Perhaps 20+ Known Today

(1783) Libertas Americana Medal in Silver MS61 PCGS. Betts-615, Loubat-14. Original Dies. A PCGS photo certificate accompanies this medal. The Libertas Americana is undoubtedly the most famous of all American medals, and for good reason. The medal was conceived by Benjamin Franklin and features three of the most important dates in the formation of the United States: July 4, 1776 (Declaration of Independence), October 17, 1777 (Surrender of the British army at Saratoga), and October 19, 1781 (Surrender of the British army at Yorktown). Many consider the Libertas Americana to be the most beautiful medal ever struck, and the iconic obverse design was adapted for use on the first United States half cents.
Franklin envisioned a medal to commemorate the two defining battles of Saratoga and Yorktown. In 1782 he contracted with Augustin Dupré and the French Academy of Painting and Sculpture to design and engrave the medal. The obverse was sketched by Dupré and features a dramatic representation of Liberty, facing left, with a Phrygian cap and pole symbolic of freedom over her right shoulder. The motto above, LIBERTAS AMERICANA, translates to "American Freedom." Esprit-Antoine Gibelin designed the reverse, which features the infant Hercules strangling two snakes while the Roman goddess Minerva stands behind him. Above this image is the legend NON SINE DIIS ANIMOSUS INFANS ("The courageous child is not without the aid of the gods"). Dupré engraved the dies, and the medals were struck at the Paris Mint in 1783. John Adams and Anne Bentley (2007) remark: "The Libertas Americana medal is at once a monument to great victories, to our friends the French, and to an act of pure patriotism."
The surfaces of this piece are light silver-gray, with a slight reddish tint and charcoal-gray accents around the devices. The design elements are fully struck; careful inspection reveals no contact marks. There are light hairlines on both sides--not a surprise when one considers that the original recipients of silver Libertas Americana medals were aristocrats, dignitaries, and scholars (i.e., not numismatists). It is likely that this specimen spent years in a cabinet and was occasionally shown to house guests as a curio.
In their exhaustive census, Adams and Bentley were able to locate 22 examples in silver, including a number housed in museum collections. Fewer than 60 were struck in silver, and the high survival rate would indicate that these pieces have been treasured from the start. This is only the second time in 20 years that Heritage has had the pleasure to offer an example in silver. These medals are so highly prized and rare that it may be many years before another silver Libertas Americana, particularly one in Mint State, appears at auction. Listed on page 86 of the 2011 Guide Book.
From Dwight Manley's NE Silver Collection.

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