Object Number 2017.0043.001

Object Name

Medal (Award or premium)

Category

Metals

Credit Line/Donor

American Textile History Museum

Creator (Role)

William Barber (Artist)
05/02/1807-08/31/1879
Barber holds the rather dubious distinction of being one of only two nineteenth-century chief engravers not to have designed any major circulating coinage.

United States Mint (Maker)
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.

Place of Origin

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

Date

1871

Mark or Signature or Inscription or Label

1. Mark; Obverse; "W. BARBER.F."
2. Inscription; Obverse; "NEW ENGLAND AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY" in relief
3. Inscription; Reverse; "AWARDED TO" in relief
4. Inscription; Reverse; "THORNDIKE MFG. CO. FOR BEST QUALITY ELASTIC WEBS AND SUSPENDERS" and "1871" engraved

Subjects

Textiles; Costume

Materials

Bronze

Techniques

Struck

Dimensions (inches)

0.25 (H) , 2.31 (Diam)

Dimensions (centimeters)

0.635 (H) , 5.867 (Diam)

Object Description

Web - 12/06/2017

This die-struck medal was awarded as a premium or prize in 1871 to the recently-established Thorndike Manufacturing Company for their exhibit of elastic web and suspenders entered into the annual New England Agricultural Society fair. The medal was designed by the chief engraver and die-sinker for the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, where blanks were struck in silver or bronze, to be later engraved with a recipient's name and details. The Thorndike Manufacturing Company was a significant employer in Lowell, Massachusetts at the time of this award, but in early January 1872 the business suffered a "destructive fire" that consumed stock, parts of the building, and machinery according to contemporary newspaper accounts. The firm rebuilt and continued production.

Bibliography and Bibliographic Notes

[Book] Julian, R. W. 1977 Medals of the United States Mint The First Century 1792-1892. 430.
• Similar published: p. 303.