1783 AE Medal Betts-615, Libertas Americana, BN MS(PCGS#151815)

Summer 2025 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auktionator

Stack's Bowers

Losnummer

1018

Erhaltungsgrad

AU50BN

Preis

11.100

Losbeschreibung

47.6 mm. A handsome, fully original example with intermingled autumn-brown highlights to deep walnut patina. We note evidence of pocket piece wear, including light high point rub and scattered marks, but both sides remain sharply defined overall and boast strong eye appeal for the assigned grade.<p>There is no more famous or widely desired medal in the American numismatic canon than the legendary Libertas Americana medal. Silver examples are very rare, our numerous offerings in recent years notwithstanding, but copper ones are more easily obtainable. It is well known that Benjamin Franklin preferred Dupre's majestic design in copper. "The Impression in Copper is thought to appear best," Franklin wrote to Robert Livingston on April 15, 1783, though one wonders if he might have written something different if the piece he enclosed for Livingston was silver. Copper specimens like this one were sent to the members of Congress and other functionaries close to the government; it seems likely that more copper pieces were distributed in the United States than in France.<p>Cognizant of the historic moment they occupied, and appreciative of Franklin's largesse, it seems that most recipients of a Libertas Americana medal cherished it. The bulk of the mintage seems to have survived. Of course, to an 18th century non-numismatist, cherishing something meant handling it, displaying it, perhaps cleaning it now and again, thus few survive in Gem condition. The total population - perhaps 200 or so - is heavily weighted toward those with some handling. Few preserved in this way, however, present as nicely as this one does.