Coin

Description

This circular silver medal was made to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the incorporation of North Smithfield, Rhode Island. The obverse side of the medal depicts an interior scene of a textile mill, with a row of five cotton carding machines. A circular inset contains a bust of John Slater. In 1803 John Slater and his brother, Samuel Slater, founded the prominent cotton mill complex Slatersville in what eventually became North Smithfield. The reverse side of the medal depicts a house with a stagecoach drawn by four horses riding past it. Text arcing around the medal’s upper edge reads “Centennial”, and text below the scene reads “1871” and “1971.” This object is one of a large group transferred to Winterthur from the American Textile History Museum when it closed in 2017.