Medal (Award or premium)

  • Title:

    International Exhibition, Philadelphia MDCCCLXXVI

  • Category:

    Metals

  • Creator (Role):

    Henry Mitchell (Designer and engraver)

    United States Mint (Manufacturer)

    Peter Lewis Krider (Possible maker)

  • Place of Origin:

    Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mid-Atlantic, United States, North America

  • Date:

    1876 (1877-1878)

  • Materials:

    Bronze

  • Techniques:

    Struck

  • Museum Object Number:

    2017.0043.007


  • Complete Details



Object Number

2017.0043.007

Object Name

Medal (Award or premium)

Title

International Exhibition, Philadelphia MDCCCLXXVI

Category

Metals

Credit Line/Donor

American Textile History Museum

Creator (Role)

Henry Mitchell (Designer and engraver)
1835-1909

United States Mint (Manufacturer)
1792
The Mint was established by the U.S. Congress in 1792 with The Coinage Act. David Rittenhouse was appointed the first director by President George Washington and the Mint was erected in Philadelphia.

Peter Lewis Krider (Possible maker)
1821-May 12, 1895

Place of Origin

Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mid-Atlantic, United States, North America

Date

1876 (1877-1878)

Mark or Signature or Inscription or Label

1. Inscription; Reverse; "INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION, PHILADELPHIA MDCCCLXXVI." in relief
2. Inscription; Reverse; "AWARDED BY UNITED STATES CENTENNIAL COMMISSION" in relief
3. Inscription; Obverse; "H.Mitchell SC" in relief

Subjects

Centennial

Materials

Bronze

Techniques

Struck

Dimensions (inches)

0.2 (W) , 3 (Diam)

Dimensions (centimeters)

0.5 (W) , 7.62 (Diam)

Object Description

Web -

This medallion was awarded as a prize or premium with a diploma for a winning entrant in the international display of manufactured goods at the Centennial exhibition in Philadelphia. The original design, created by Henry Mitchell, was delivered to the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia on June 21, 1876, but he did not complete engraving his four-inch dies until October that year; his three-inch dies were completed with a pantograph by March 1877, after the fair had closed. Approximately 12,000 medals were produced, distributed as emblems of American industry and accomplishment into the hands of national and international manufacturers.

The obverse depicts the seated profile view of Columbia personifying America, holding a Federal eagle shield and extending a laurel crown in her right hand above symbols of industry and craft. A four-story building with smoking chimneys is in the background. The central reserve is encircled by an outer Palladian egg-and-dart border and an inner bead enclosing 38 stars punctuated by four oval roundels personifying the four continents, with America at the top, then clockwise Africa, Asia, and Europe. The reverse has a low relief inscription in the center field "AWARDED BY / UNITED STATES / CENTENNIAL / COMMISSION" encircled by a crossed laurel boughs and the outer inscription "INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION, PHILADELPHIA, MDCCCLXXVI" all within an egg-and-dart border. The outer edge is plain.