103190 | PHILIPPINES & UNITED STATES. St. Louis Int'l Expo bronze Award Medal.

103190  |  PHILIPPINES & UNITED STATES. Louisiana Purchase/St. Louis International Exposition bronze award Medal. Issued 1904. Presented at the expo for the "bronze" award at the Filipino Exhibit (63mm, 12h). Round shape. By Adolph Alexander Weinman at the Philadelphia mint.

 

VNIVERSAL EXPOSITION SAINT LOVIS VNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Columbia standing slightly right, wearing Phrygian cap and outstretching American flag over Native American maiden standing to right, removing flag with intricate bee design (representing industriousness); rising sun in background // Eagle, with head left and wings spread, standing facing on oak and laurel branches; below, rectangular cartouche decorated with scallop shell and inscribed • BRONZE • MEDAL • / • PHILIPPINE • EXHIBIT • / • LOVISIANA • PVRCHASE • / • EXPOSITION • in four lines; two inward-facing dolphins below. Hendershott 30-41; Honeycutt 70c.

 

NGC AU Details—Environmental Damage. Red-brown surfaces, with some light handling and mild mottling of the color from the noted environmental damage. This aspect, however, does not interfere with its overall appearance, charm, and rarity. A very rare subset of the more typically encountered general award specifically designed for the Filipino exhibit and with a mintage of just 975 pieces. Fairly comparable to the McFadden specimen, an NGC AU-55, though clearly with some environmental issues of its own, and for which its current owner wants at least $1,800. Though raw and graded "XF" by Heritage at the time of its sale, it is now in the aforementioned AU-55 holder, as can be seen here.

 

Designed by famed German-born U.S. coinage engraver Adolph Alexander Weinman, this series of award medals displays the elegant artistry that would make appearances the following decade on the 'Mercury' dime and the 'Walking Liberty' half dollar. Issued in various shapes, the entire series (bronze, silver, gold, commemorative, and grand) were nominally named, as all of the award medals were struck in a new bronze alloy (initially referred to as 'government bronze'), and meant to convey the level of recognition for the recipient. The expo itself was held in St. Louis, Missouri, and had, as its backdrop, the centennial of the Louisiana Purchase to commemorate—a factor which prominently influenced many design aspects of the award medals.

 

Upload: 19 May 2025.