All Medals

The medal's obverse bears bust of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, r.,  the founder of New Orleans with Fleur de Lis. In background, the site of the future city. At top, NEW ORLEANS / 1718; at bottom, BIENVILLE

The reverse bears modern city skyline of New Orleans over American shield. At top, NEW ORLEANS / 1918; at bottom BICENTENNIAL over 18 stars; signed under shield, E - W / GORHAM CO.

Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville (1680-1767) was the four-time governor of French Louisiana and founder of the city of New Orleans.

The circular medal measures 63,5mm in diameter and was struck by the Gorham Compan of Providence, Rhode Island.

References:   BG 27

References:   MACo 1962-023

References:   MACo 1955-054

References:   MACo 1930-053

The medal's obverse bears a mother figure reminiscent of Mary at left holding a baby while priest at right performs the christening, open Bible held in one hand. In exergue, incuse HENRY ERNST LINCOLN LUHRS / 7 JUNE 1931; (PM monogram) at left.

The reverse bears dove before sun over christening basin; stars around circumference.

This is a very elegant medal and it caught my attention for two reasons. First, I could not make sense of what I assumed to be the artist's signature at left and second, the dedication is for the son of prominent numismatist and collector Henry Ernst Luhrs. I have since identified the medal's designer as Pietro Montana; not a terribly big surprise given the Christian subject matter and the date.

Dick Johnson dates this medal to 1934, but the Luhrs family either used it for a baptism in 1931 or post-dated the medal once it became available. Either way, it is a beautiful religious medal that goes with several others to form a loose spiritual series. Beyond baptism, there was also a set of medals for boys' and girls' confirmation, a medal for engagement, and finally a medal for marriage.

References:   MACo 1934-027

The medal's obverse bears bust of Theodore Roosevelt, facinf right. At lower right, MDCCCLVIII/ MCMXIX· / ··; signed and dated above shoulder at left, J.E. / FRASER / 19©20

The reverse bears flaming crusader's sword. Around, ROOSEVELT · MEMORIAL · ASSOCIATION / MEDAL OF HONOR; across, IF I MVST - CHOOSE / BETWEEN - RIGHTEOVSNESS / AND PEACE - I CHOOSE / RIGHTEOUVSNESS

The Theodore Roosevelt Distinguished Service Medal was established by the Roosevelt Memorial Association in 1923 to honor outstanding service in fields reflecting the work and interests of Theodore Roosevelt.  The first medals were presented by the President at the White House. For many years thereafter, medals were awarded on Roosevelt's birthday, October 27th, at "Roosevelt House," a brownstone at 28 East 20th Stree in New York City.  Medals were awarded annually from 1923 to 1967, with exceptions for 1941 and 1944, and since 1967 on an occasional basis.

The circular medal measures 83mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company of New York City. No mintage is reported.

Many thanks to Chris Bach for the write-up.

References:   Baxter 237, MACo 1923-002

The medal's obverse bears planet Earth with two oversized people on surface before spectacular sun and space-scape with satellite and swirling galaxy. IBM logo at top and bold 2000 across Earth. Around, THE NEW MILLENIUM / LOOKING BEYOND THE Y2K CHALLENGE

The reverse bears IBM logo over TWO THOUSAND THANKS / FOR MAKING Y2K / "THE NON-EVENT"

For the benfit of those who were too young in 2000. The Y2K crisis was probably the first global computer panic.  In the early days of the information economy computer memory and storage were really expensive and programmers had saved spaec by storing dates with two-digit years, for example "99" instead of "1999". They realized that this would cause problems in software that would misinterpret the year "00" as 1900 instead of 2000. 

For many years leading up to the year 2000, media were full of possible horror scenarios, including nuclear meltdowns, satellites and planes falling out of the sky, supply chains collapsing.  The large software companies and tens of thousands of contractors combed through old software to proactively deal with the problem. As the big date change arrived, the world held its breath... and nothing happened. 

We will probably never know how big an issue it would have been withiout all the work that was done and the money that was spent preparing.

The circular medal measures 76.2mm in diameter and was struck in bronze. No mintage is reported but if it was handed to all IBM consultants working on Y2K problems it must be in the tens of thousands.

References:   MACo 1971-013-015, WR 15

References:   BG 23