Owner Comments:
Purchased on 9/6/2012.
The Coat of Arms of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is an official emblem of the state and was adopted in 1778. The Pennsylvania coat of arms features a shield crested by an American bald eagle, flanked by horses, and adorned with symbols of Pennsylvania's strengths - a ship carrying state commerce to all parts of the world; a clay-red plough (a symbol of the Pennsylvania's rich natural resources); and three golden sheaves of wheat, representing fertile fields and Pennsylvania's wealth of human thought and action. An olive branch and cornstalk cross limbs beneath - symbols of peace and prosperity. The state motto ("Virtue Liberty and Independence") appears festooned below.
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From Julian:
"These medals were originally struck in brass for distribution during the parade of October 24, 1882. Elaborate plans were made by a special committee of mint officers and workmen headed by Coiner Oliver C. Bosbyshell to have 250 men specially dressed in the parade line. There was to be a wagon drawn by six horses, carrying a steam press, from which newly-struck medals would be thrown to the crowds. Bosbyshell arranged for 50,000 brass planchets while the official city committee subscribed for another 25,000. All 75,000 were struck and distributed. These were, of course, unbronzed, but pieces struck since that time (in the mint), for sale to collectors, have had the regular bronzing applied after striking.
There was considerable newspaper publicity about the medals being struck during the parade and collectors from around the country made application to Superintendent Snowden for the medals. At first these applications were refused, but it is probably that the mint began striking them for sale because of the demand. Two gold and one hundred silver medals were also reported in the fiscal 1883 report."
While not what I would call "brass", the term is used historically in a generic way for any alloy of copper and zinc. In the case of this medal, it appears to be almost entirely copper, and is similar to most examples I have seen over the years. In addition, NGC has given it a color designation, which is applied to copper issues, and further supports that fact that this piece was likely struck on copper planchets, not "brass" ones. As is clear from the Julian description above, this issue is not rare. However, in the condition of this example the piece becomes scarce. Having seen probably a dozen graded examples of this medal over the years, I would say this one is conservatively graded at MS64, with nearly "as struck" surfaces and essentially no distracting marks.