History
Henri Weil, "a highly respected French sculptor living in New York City," founded the Medallic Art Company in Manhattan in 1903. [3] Henri, along with his brother Felix, worked at Deitsch Brothers, a company that made die-struck ornaments for woman's handbags. [4] When the styles of handbags changed, the Weil brothers repurposed the presses to make medals and purchased Medallic Art Company from Deitsch. [4] One of its first commissions was the Hudson-Fulton Medal of the Circle of Friends of the Medallion in 1909. [4] [5]
In 1972 the company moved to Danbury, Connecticut, then to Sioux Falls, South Dakota in 1991, and finally to Dayton, Nevada in 1997 where it operated a 115,000-square-foot (10,700 m2) facility. [3]
The Medallic Art Company made custom 2D and 3D medals [6] and "has produced some of the world's most distinguished awards such as the Pulitzer Prize, the Peabody Award, the Newbery and Caldecott medals, and the Inaugural medals for eleven U.S. Presidents." [7] [4]
In July 2009, Medallic Art Company was purchased by Northwest Territorial Mint. [8] The Northwest Territorial Mint declared bankruptcy in April 2016; [9] in 2018, after protracted bankruptcy proceedings, Medallic Art's "tradename, website, customer lists, archives, tools, specific machinery, certain company owned Medallic dies and other property" were purchased by Medalcraft Mint, Inc. (Western District of Washington (Seattle) Bankruptcy Petition #: 16-11767-CMA). Medallic Art's archives and about 20,000 pre-1998 dies were acquired from the Northwest Territorial Mint 2018 bankruptcy by the American Numismatic Society, a New York City-based institution dedicated to researching, curating, and educating about coins and medallic arts. [10]
Notable Medallic Series
From 1963 to 1975, a medallic series in bronze and silver was produced depicting the Americans honored in the Hall of Fame for Great Americans at New York University. A total of 96 medals were issued, designed by 42 sculptors. [11]
In August 1971, Joseph B. Hartzog, Jr., director of the National Park Service, awarded a contract to the Kalispell, Montana, firm of Roche Jaune Inc. to produce a series of 37 medals, called the "National Parks Centennial Series", that depict a scene in each of America's national parks. The medals were designed by Frank Hagel and struck by the Medallic Art Company in bronze and silver. [12] The bronze medals were sold by subscription in 1972 and each month a new medal was issued. The bronze medal production was unlimited (bronze medals were minted as recently as 2017 by the Northwest Territorial Mint), but the silver medals were sold in complete sets to buyers as a limited edition series capped at 7,500 sets.
The Medallic Art Company also struck medals for two other important medallic art series in the United States: the Circle of Friends of the Medallion [13] and The Society of Medalists. [14] The Society of Medalists medals were minted annually from 1930 to 1995 at varying mintages based on the number of subscribers.
Michael Grant was an English classicist, numismatist, and author of numerous books on ancient history. His 1956 translation of Tacitus's Annals of Imperial Rome remains a standard of the work. Having studied and held a number of academic posts in the United Kingdom and the Middle East, he retired early to devote himself fully to writing. He once described himself as "one of the very few freelancers in the field of ancient history: a rare phenomenon". As a populariser, his hallmarks were his prolific output and his unwillingness to oversimplify or talk down to his readership. He published over 70 works.
A medalist is an artist who designs medals, plaquettes, badges, metal medallions, coins and similar small works in relief in metal. Historically, medalists were typically also involved in producing their designs, and were usually either sculptors or goldsmiths by background. In modern times, medalists are mostly primarily sculptors of larger works, but in the past the number of medals and coins produced were sufficient to support specialists who spent most of their career producing them. From the 19th century, the education of a medalist often began with time as an engraver, or a formal education in an academy, particularly modeling and portraiture. On coins, a mark or symbol signifying the medalist as the original designer was often included in a hidden location and is not to be mistaken for the symbol of the mint master. Artistic medals and plaquettes are often signed prominently by the artist.
John F. Flanagan was a sculptor who was widely known for his statuary and plaquettes but recognized foremost for his designs of coinage and commemorative medals. Among his best known designs are the obverse (front) and reverse of the United States quarter dollar featuring the profile of George Washington, a coin that has been in continuous circulation with some modifications since 1932.
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The Society of Medalists was established in 1930 in the United States to encourage the medallic work of superior sculptors, and to make their creations available to the public. The Society of Medalists was the longest running art medal collector's organization in the United States and released 129 regular issues on a twice yearly basis from 1930 to 1995, as well as special issues marking the Society's 20th, 40th, and 50th anniversaries and the United States Bicentennial in 1976. Much of the inspiration for the Society came from the earlier Circle of Friends of the Medallion, which also issued medals on a semi-annual basis from 1908 to 1915. All issues of the Society were struck by the Medallic Art Company, originally located in New York City
Circle of Friends of the Medallion was formed by Charles DeKay, Robert Hewitt, Jr., and the French-American trio of Jules Edouard Roiné with brothers Felix and Henri Weil, all living in New York City. DeKay, "a newspaperman and art lover" provided the contacts to form the Circle of Friends of the Medallion, often referred to as the Circle of Friends, while Hewitt, "a Manhattan real estate investor" provided the funds for its development. Jules Edouard Roiné and Felix Weil ran the Roiné, Weil and Company (1908-1916) which they collaborated with Henri. Upon Roiné's passing in 1916, Felix and Henri Weil operated the Medallic Art Company of New York. The three men, via both companies, made the 1st, 2nd and 12th medals in the series. Joseph K. Davison & Sons of Philadelphia struck the other medals.
Robert Hewitt Jr. was a successful real estate investor in Manhattan, New York, and a notable numismatist. Hewitt began collecting coins as a young man while serving a mercantile apprenticeship and compiled a comprehensive Abraham Lincoln medal collection considered by numismatists as one of the greatest of its kind. In 1908, he endeavored for the creation of a medal to commemorate the centennial birth of Abraham Lincoln. He commissioned esteemed French-American sculptor and medallist Jules Edouard Roiné for the design, "which is described as the most beautiful representation of Lincoln's features that has as yet been made."
Alex Shagin is a coin designer.
Starting in 1997, the Royal Canadian Mint started to sell hockey medallions to the public. To commemorate the induction of Mario Lemieux in the Hockey Hall of Fame, a set was issued honouring all three inductees. One set was issued in Sterling Silver while another was issued in Nickel. The success of the release led to future issues.
Eugene Daub is an American contemporary figure sculptor, best known for his portraits and figurative monument sculpture created in the classic heroic style. His sculptures reside in three of the nation's state capitals and in the National Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol. His work appears in public monuments and permanent collections in the United States and Europe.
Donald Nelson Everhart II is an American coin and medal engraver-medalist, and sculptor who has worked for the private Franklin Mint, as a freelance designer, and since 2004 has worked for the United States Mint in Philadelphia. With over 1,000 models for coins and medals attributed to him as of 2008, he is still at the prime of his career creating the bas-relief models for these and similar sculptural objects. His coin designs are in the pockets of American citizens, and despite his late arrival to the series of the popular U.S. Statehood Quarters, he has designed and modeled three State's unique reverse designs, modeled three others, and six U.S. commemorative coins. His portrait of President William Clinton was chosen for Clinton's second term Inaugural Medal. Among his other medal creations are six Congressional Gold Medals for the U.S. Mint, seven Society of Medalists issues, twelve calendar medals, and other models for private medal makers, as well as cast art medals.
Dora de Pédery-Hunt, LL.D. was a Hungarian-Canadian sculptor who designed medals and coins. She was the first Canadian citizen to design an effigy for Queen Elizabeth II.
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Jules Édouard Roiné, was an exemplary French-American sculptor and master medal engraver of his era.
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The British Art Medal Society (BAMS) was founded in 1982 to promote the art of the medal through commissions, exhibitions, publications and events. The society is affiliated to FIDEM.
