Medals Column #3

The Medals Column #3

The Society of Medalists

by Samuel Pennington

There’s a treasure-trove of reasonably priced art out there in the marketplace for collectors of American sculpture. It comes in the form of art medals produced and sent to subscriber members of the Society of Medalists.

According to a Presidential Coin and Antique Company auction catalog- "The Society of Medalists [SOM] was formed in 1930. Its purpose was threefold: (1) to develop in the American people a knowledge and appreciation of medallic art; (2) to recognize and record- through the medium of medallic art- notable events- personalities- and cultural movements of the past and present; (3) to encourage the development of creative art. Since 1930- when it was founded- until 1995- the Society of Medalists has issued two medals per year to its members. The list of sculptors contributing to the series reads like a Who’s Who of the American sculptors’ community. The series contains some of the finest art medals ever produced in this country."

SOM was organized as a nonprofit enterprise by wealthy collector George Dupont Pratt. The original issue price for subscribers to the SOM series was $8 a year. It hoped for a thousand subscribers- but mintages in some years fell below 700. By the end of the series the cost had risen to a still very low $100 a year. Subscribers received two medals a year. Most were 2 3/4 inches in diameter and came packed in a cardboard box with a pamphlet stating the artist’s intention or message. Mintages varied from almost 3400 for the first medal by Laura Gardin Fraser (wife of better-known sculptor James Earle Fraser- but a fine sculptor in her own right) down to a low of 200 for very late issues. In most years from 750 to 1000 medals were struck.

The medals were mostly bronze finished with a variety of patinas as ordered by the artists. During World War II a few were struck in silver because of a shortage of copper. Some other medals were reissued in silver but were not very successful. Each medal is normally edge-marked with the SOM number and date.

The Web site of the Medal Collectors of America (MCA) has a most informative listing available as a downloadable pdf (www.medalcollectors.org/Guides/ SoM/SOM.pdf). It lists all the SOM medals- the estimated mintage- and even a price guide furnished in 2000 for the silver issues and in 2002 for the bronze issues by Paul Bosco- a leading New York medals dealer and- until recently- one of the major suppliers of SOM medals. (The list is reproduced in part as a sidebar to this column.)

Soon to be available on the MCA Web site (http://www.medalcollectors.org) will be a three-part survey by David T. Alexander listing the characteristics and variations of each of the medals. It will be found in pdfs of 2005 back issues of the MCA Advisory- a monthly publication by the organization. (The second installment is presently missing but MCA hopes to post it soon.)

Even at dealer list prices- SOM medals are among the most reasonably priced medals on the market today.

SOM medals have had a rocky up-and-down price history. Paul Bosco wrote in an e-mail- "In 1975 I got a job at Schulman Coin & Mint- where our stock of SOMs were considered $10 items- and a drug on the market at that. In the early ’80s I bought 88 of the first 92 in a Spink (London) auction- ex-Carnegie Institute- for under $6 apiece including air post. Luckily I forgot about them for a year- during which time Joe Levine (Presidential Coin & Antique Company) sold #2 (by Paul Manship) for $51! [It now lists at $300 to $400.] Also- Johnson & Jensen [catalog medal auctions] came into existence- and the game changed!

"In the late ’80s J&J (later Collectors’ Auctions Ltd.) sold a full set piece by piece- with nos. 1-90 illustrated- for prices totaling $6900.

"Many sell due to topical interest- or for gifts- but the biggest- broadest demand is for important sculptors."

Like many dealers- Bosco appreciates what he sells. "Those who pursue the complete series- or most of it- acquire a wonderful survey of the American art medal and of the moods and concerns of the nation.

"Examples found at flea markets may be cheaper—or not! Buying multiple pieces at one time will almost always enable you to negotiate price a bit. Silver examples are all scarce; Nos. 1-50 start at about $200- and late issues around $120. Nos. 28-29 were first issued in smaller-size silver versions. In 1970 2 7/8" bronze examples were created (mintage 100 each). I have sold #28 [Carl Schmitz’s Freedom of Speech and Religion] for $250 and #29 [Richard Recchia’s Inspiration] for $300- and have seen a good dealer offer the same #29 for $450."

Bosco went on- "The standard work on the series is Joseph Veach Noble’s paper in the (1987) The Medal in America- a COAC volume published by the American Numismatic Society. A couple of notes. 1) Mr. Donald Scarinci is preparing a book on the series. I have high expectations- and I hope he finds a publisher. 2) eBay has been a big factor in the SOM market. #13 [R. Tait McKenzie’s Youth Putting the Shot] once sold for $700-plus!! Although the prices [in the guide] are more rational and consistent than eBay results- the electronic auction has put pressure on prices."

Bosco said he no longer is the "go-to guy" for SOM medals. Steve Hayden of Mauldin- South Carolina- has taken up that mantle. His Web site (http://www.civilwartokens.com/society_of_medalists.htm) maintains as full a list as he can manage. Prices and mintage figures are all listed in tabular form. Hayden said in a phone interview that he gets some crossover from coin collectors. "They like the idea of a defined- numbered series."

Top price in Hayden’s listing was $550 for three medals: a bronze- SOM #29- Richard Recchia’s Inspiration and Aspiration; and two silver medals- SOM #4- Frederick MacMonnies’s Charles Lindbergh- and SOM #27- Anna Hyatt Huntington’s African Elephant- Water Hole. Bronze versions of the last two were $150 and $285 respectively.

Another dealer with an SOM page is Rich Hartzog at http://www.exonumia.com/art/som.htm He does not list his prices.

Another major source of SOM medals is eBay. At the time of this writing there were 37 SOM medals posted for sale at electronic auction. Not one had hit even $100 in bidding.

Top price for an SOM medal that we have found was $1150 at Presidential’s December 2005 auction for a bronze 1952 Pony Express and Prairie Schooner medal by James Earle Fraser. But at the same auction a number of SOM medals sold in the $135 to $200 range. The least expensive was issue number 9- 1934- a Herbert Adams Youth Fishing in bronze at $57.50.

On February 21- Stack’s- New York City- held a mail-Internet auction in which SOM medals were lotted into groups of five and six. There were no pictures in the catalog and only the artists’ names for description- but the prices seemed low.

For example- a six-piece lot containing SOM #56 by Donald DeLue (Creator of Universe/ Creator of Man) and medals by five other artists brought just $240. The author paid $400 a year ago for the DeLue- and dealer Hayden has an example listed on his Web site for $350.

The author bought at the Stack’s auction a five-piece lot with medals by Chester Beach- Joseph Renier- Brenda Putnam- Berthold Nebel- and Thomas LoMedico for $192.

If medals are such a good deal- why are prices so low? Display is one drawback. Just where do you put a 3-inch circular object? Another reason for low prices is cited by Joel Rosenkranz- a partner in Conner • Rosenkranz- New York City- a leading representational sculpture dealership- and coauthor of numerous books on sculpture. He said serious sculpture collectors are put off by mintage figures in the hundreds. "Seven hundred is a huge number to a collector-" he said in a telephone interview.

Another reason is outlined in economist Thorstein Veblen’s 1899 tome The Theory of the Leisure Class and its coverage of "conspicious consumption" in which he held that the rich don’t pay attention to "cheap goods."

So if you are not a conspicuous consumer- the SOM medals are out there. Get them while they are still affordable!

SOM #30 Riggers and Riveters, (Wartime Construction), by Mahonri Young, the second issue of 1944. Another copy of this medal with its original box and pamphlet sold for $66 at Presidential’s July 1996 auction. When issued, medals from the Society of Medalists were housed in a small cardboard box with a pamphlet with notes from the artist and about the artist. A few medals came with a small stand for display. In this pamphlet Young explains, "The subject matter [for this medal] came in rather an interesting way. Sometime after 1912 while I was occupying a studio in the Miller Building on 65th St. and Broadway, on the same floor as the Dean of all Medalists, John Flanagan, a row of brownstone buildings were torn down in 64th St. My studio had windows on the south so that I could see the operations of tearing down the old buildings, excavating the basement, erecting the steel for the new building and then the building of the walls and filling in of the floors. That summer I had commissions that had to be done. I found it very difficult to keep my mind on my work and my eyes inside my studio. But, I did manage to steal time to do several drawings and a sheaf of sketches. This medal grew out of those drawings and sketches." Many of the medals offered on eBay have lost their boxes and pamphlets. This should make them less costly but does not seem to.

This five-piece lot sold for $192 at Stack’s February 21 sale: (top) SOM #16, 1937, Chester Beach’s Fathers and Sons - Peace and War; (left) SOM #23, 1941, Joseph E. Renier’s Pro Patria, Pro Humanitate; (center) SOM #26, 1942, Brenda Putnam’s Flight; (bottom) SOM #32, 1945, Berthold Nebel’s World Unity or Oblivion; and (right) SOM #38, 1948, Thomas LoMedico’s Pursuit of Happiness.

(Medals Below Depicted 1 1/3 Times Actual Size)

A bronze medal by Donald DeLue, SOM #111, Bursting the Bounds, one of the few square medals and certainly with the deepest relief, remains one of the higher-priced medals of the series. The author paid $400 a year ago for this DeLue, and dealer Steve Hayden has an example listed on his Web site for $350. Joe Levine said he once auctioned one for $900.

The first medal in the SOM series was Laura Gardin Fraser’s 1930 Hunter and Dog, Ruffed Grouse. David T. Alexander, writing in a three-part series on SOM for the MCA Advisory, explains that "Fraser’s extensive comments on her medal define the basic philosophy of the art medal for art’s sake. ‘There are many persons who desire to collect medals but are unable to do so because the medal is used in most instances as a specific award. The scope of subject matter which bears no relation to a particular person or occasion embraces many forms of expression and the sculptor has a large field of choice. In this case, I felt that a sporting subject would be a departure from what one has been accustomed to seeing in medallic art. Therefore, I chose the hunter with his dog because it presented the opportunity of telling a story embodying a human and animal element." $175-$250 range.

One of the most popular medals in the series is #2, Hail to Dionysus by Paul Manship. The obverse depicts the bearded god of wine with the legend "Hail to Dionysus Who First Discovered the Magic of the Grape." The reverse shows some youthful satyrs trampling grapes. The medal created some controversy as Prohibition was still in effect. Manship, who enjoyed wine, was accused of mocking the law. The medal sells for around $400. This example brought $385 on eBay.

som99energyfromsunhelios.jpg (31769 bytes)

Donald A. Borja’s 1979 Helios the Sun God, Solar Energy, number 99 in the series, seems now ahead of its time. Inscribed on the obverse "Unshackle The Bonds Of Helios" and on the reverse "Solar Energy/ Tomorrow’s Future," it sells for around $100.

SOM #115, Cat and Mouse by Robert A. Weinman, is one of the few square medals in the SOM series, the only one that could be freestanding, and certainly one of the wittiest. This example cost $175 on eBay.

An SOM #45 Pony Express and Prairie Schooner by James Earle Fraser, 1952, sold at Presidential’s December 2005 auction for $1150, the top price we have found anywhere for an SOM medal. This one cost $205, a more normal price for this attractive medal.