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UNITED STATES:AE medal (64.50g), 1986, UNC

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:140.00 USD Estimated At:150.00 - 250.00 USD
UNITED STATES:AE medal (64.50g), 1986, UNC
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This item SOLD at 2022 Jan 21 @ 19:05UTC-8 : PST/AKDT
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UNITED STATES:AE medal (64.50g), 1986, Betts-615, Bucket-793, Unc, 47mm bronze Libertas Americana Medal by A. Dupré, 1986 Paris Mint restrike, bust of Liberty left, with pole and Liberty cap behind with LIBERTAS. AMERICANA. around and "4 JUIL. 1776." in exergue // Hercules as a child fighting with two snakes, with Minerva holding off lion with Fleur-de-Lis shield, with NON SINE DIIS ANINOSUS INFANS. around and "17 1777 / OCT. / 19 1781" in exergue, nice light copper color, a few obverse field marks, "1986 BRONZE" on edge with cornucopia privy mark. The childlike Hercules on the back embodies the young American Union of 13 colonies, which fights its enemies under the protection of France (= Minerva with a lily shield). The lion stands for Great Britain; the retracted tail identifies him as a coward. The two snakes Hercules wrestles with represent the battles of Saratoga (1777) and Yorktown (1781), noted by dates in the exergue.Benjamin Franklin conceived this medal and arranged for it to be produced, of which originally 300 pieces were minted in bronze, 55 pieces in silver and also two pieces in gold - for Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. His correspondence shows that the production of the dies was completed in March 1782. A few letters have survived from the spring of 1783 relating to Franklin's donation of the medals to various dignitaries. The medals were probably made in the course of 1782 or early 1783.