The most famous of all American medals is the elegant Libertas Americana (''American Liberty'') medal. It celebrates America's Revolutionary War military victories, specifically the British surrenders at Saratoga (1777) and Yorktown (1781). Benjamin Franklin conceived the idea, as a private project to enhance Franco-American goodwill.
A preliminary sketch was drawn by painter Esprit-Antoine Giblein, and the dies were engraved by Augustin Dupré. The medals were struck at the Paris Mint in 1783, with two specimens struck in gold for presentation to the King and Queen of France. A few others were struck in silver, and the rest in copper.
Dupré is credited with the obverse portrait of Liberty, with her hair flowing freely in the wind, superimposed on a pole topped by a pileus, the helmet-like emblem of freedom. The design symbolized both freedom from slavery, and America's freedom from George III of England. The portrait of Liberty was admired so dearly that it was used on America’s first cent, the 1793 Chain Cent, and additional denominations that followed. France was a valuable ally in the victory over England during the Revolutionary War, and the allegorical reverse design commemorates the struggle. America is depicted as an infant Hercules, strangling two serpents representing the armies of Burgoyne and Cornwallis. He is defended by France, represented as the warrior-goddess Minerva, clad in breastplate and plumed helmet, holding a shield bearing the fleurs de lys of France. She fends off the British lion, which stands with its forepaws upon her shield, its tail between its rear legs, a heraldic symbol of defeat. The dates in the exergue refer to the surrenders of Burgoyne at Saratoga and Cornwallis at Yorktown. The Latin inscription (from Horace, as suggested to Franklin by Sir William Jones) NON SINE DIIS ANIMOSUS INFANS translates as ''the courageous child was aided by the gods.''
In a letter dated April 15, 1783, Franklin wrote again to Livingston:
''I have caused to be struck here the medal which I formerly mentioned to you, the design of which you seemed to approve. I enclose one of them in silver, for the President of Congress, and one in copper for yourself; the impression in copper is thought to appear best, and you will soon receive a number for the members. I have presented one to the King, and another to the Queen, both in gold, and one in silver to each of the ministers, as a monumental acknowledgment, which may go down to future ages, of the obligations we are under to this nation. It is mighty well received, and gives general pleasure.''
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