Medals Depicting Civil War Events
Fort Sumter / Maj. Anderson Medal
Major Robert Anderson arrived in New York City on April 18th
and during the next few days several receptions were held for him.
An article in the New York Herald, April 25, 1861 reads "A splendid
gold medal is to be presented to Major Anderson by our
citizens. The number of subscriptions is limited to two hundred
of $5 each, and eighty-two subscribers have already contributed,
each of whom will receive a bronze copy".
OBVERSE - Scene of the bombardment of Fort Sumter with
SUMTER above, below exergue line APRIL 12 & 13 / 1861
REVERSE - Oak wreath with shield at bottom, between the wreath
and circle of 35 stars inscription PRUDENS, FIDELIS ET AUDAX.
INVICTAE FIDELITATIS PRAEMIUM. To left of shield G.H.
LOVETT N.YORK, to right of shield AUG. B. SAGE PUB. Inscription
within the circle of 35 stars in nine lines TO / MAJ. ROBERT
ANDERSON / U.S.A. / FROM THE CITIZENS OF / NEW YORK
CITY / AS A / SLIGHT TRIBUTE, / TO HIS / PATRIOTISM.
Original gold awarded to Major Anderson
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Silver, 70.7mm
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(image courtesy of Alan Weinberg - The Zabriskie Collection)
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In his book on Sage David Bowers calls the silver example very rare, possibly unique. There are two known examples - one in the ANS Collection and the one pictured here.
Bronze, 70.7mm
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White metal (silver plated?), 70.7mm
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Bowers calls the white metal examples very rare and states
some and possibly all are lightly silvered. He also list a brass
version and says one is in he ANS Collection. But the only
brass example listed is the 33mm HK 11b type pictured below.
Bombardment of Fort Sumter Medal - Type I
HK 11, white metal, 34mm
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HK 11b, brass, 34mm
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(image courtesy of an anonymous collector)
HK 11c, copper, 34mm
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HK 11f, silver, 34mm
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A silver variety of this medal is not listed in the So-called Dollars
catalog and was seemingly unknown until this example was
certified by NGC in November of 2017.
Bombardment of Fort Sumter Medal - Type II
HK 11a, brass, 34mm
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(on line image)
HK 11d, white metal, 34mm
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(image courtesy of Stacks Bowers)
HK 11e, copper, 34mm
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(image courtesy of Heritage)
This reverse is also found with a George McClellan Campaign medalet
from 1864 and that may have been the original combination. The obverse
of this campaign medalet is also found with the obverse of HK 11 but is
not listed in the So-Called Dollars catalog, probably because it is a
political piece. DeWitt list it as GMcC 1864-8(D) but does not
indicate what metals it is found in. Below is a silver example.
DeWitt GMcC 1864-8(D), silver, 33.8mm
This reverse is also found with a George McClellan Campaign medalet
from 1864 and that may have been the original combination. The obverse
of this campaign medalet is also found with the obverse of HK 11 but is
not listed in the So-Called Dollars catalog, probably because it is a
political piece. DeWitt list it as GMcC 1864-8(D) but does not
indicate what metals it is found in. Below is a silver example.
DeWitt GMcC 1864-8(D), silver, 33.8mm
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Monitor / Merrimac Medalet
Schenkman MM4, copper, 31mm
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Schenkman MM4, brass, 31mm
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Schenkman MM4, silver, 31mm
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Lot 1834 in a
Bang's, Merwin & Co. Sale, January 1863, was a set of these tokens
described as copper, brass, and tin. Could they have mistaken a silver
example for tin? I am not aware of the existence of any tin or white
metal examples.
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Electrotype, 31.08mm
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