101804 | UNITED STATES & FRANCE. Statue of Liberty Delivery bronze Medal.

101804  |  UNITED STATES & FRANCE. Delivery of the Statue of Liberty to America bronze Medal. Issued 1886. Union Franco-Americaine (68mm, 142.03 g, 12h). By L.-O. Roty at the Paris mint.

 

VNION • FRANCO • AMERICAINE / STATVE • COLOSSALE • DE • LA • LIBERTÉ • ECLAIRANT • LE • MONDE, female allegories of France (Marianne) and America seated to right, along with a female allegory for Victory/Freedom seated to left, seated within boat which approaches the Statue of Liberty, casting a beacon of light from her torch at a distance / SOUVENIR • DE • L'INDEPENDANCE • AMERICAINE, medallion featuring the left-facing bust of Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi in frock coat; all set upon laurel branch with shields representing the United States and France; in four lines below, MONVMENT / ERIGÉ • PAR • LA • FRANCE / ET • L'AMERIQVE • EN • SOUVENIR / DE • LEVR • ANCIENNE • AMITIÉ; radiant ornamented plaque below. Edge: «cornucopia» BRONZE.

 

Baxter 30; Maier 92. Choice Mint State. Deep olive-brown surfaces, with a charming matte nature and underlying brilliance. A fairly scarce and always popular type.

 

Ex Richard Jewell Collection.

 

Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi was born in 1834 in the Alsace region of France, and became most known as an artist for his magnum opus, Liberty Enlightening the World, more commonly known as the Statue of Liberty. Following the establishment of the Third French Republic, the Union Franco-Américaine was created in order to foster even stronger relations with sister republic, the United States. In order to honor this union, it was suggested that an artistic gift of some kind be presented. Bartholdi's concept, partially inspired by his own desire for liberty in his native Alsace region (it having been recently annexed by the Germans), won the contest, and the "new colossus" was born.

 

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