An excellent example of a 1783-dated Libertas Americana Medal, the most recognizable early American medal. As minister to France shortly after American independence, Benjamin Franklin himself conceived of the medals and suggested the mottos. The design would be sketched by French artist Espirit-Antoine Gibelin, and Augustine Dupré would engrave the dies in Paris in 1782. Franklin would describe the medal to American secretary of foreign affairs Robert R. Livingston in 4 March 1782, stating the medal would represent the United States as "an infant Hercules in his cradle, strangling the two serpents; and France by that of Minerva, with her spear and helmet..." On 15 April 1783, Franklin would write again to Livingston, confirming that the medal was struck and enclosing one medal in silver for the President of Congress and one in copper for Livingston himself, stating "the impression in copper is thought to appear best, and you will soon receive a number of copy for the members" (Jaeger and Bowers, The Greatest Medals and Tokens). Since Franklin himself distributed these medals in the spring of 1783, it is likely that he directly handled every medal. Approximately 25 to 35 examples of this medal are known to exist in silver, and approximately 100 to 125 examples are thought to exist in bronze - including this example.

The obverse features a left-facing representation of Liberty above the legend LIBERTAS AMERICANA ("American Liberty") and the date "4 JUIL 1776", memorializing the date of the Declaration of Independence. The reverse bears the inscription "ON SINE DIIS ANIMOSUS INFANS" ("the infant is not bold without the aide of the gods"), and the dates October 17, 1777 and October 19, 1781 -- the dates of the Battles of Saratoga and Yorktown, respectively.

The Libertas Americana medal became the inspiration for many U.S. coin designs of the 18th century, including the U.S. half center of 1793. Due to its importance and desirability, it was thus selected as #1 in the reference work, The Greatest Medals and Tokens by Katherine Jaeger and Q. David Bowers (and thus featured prominently on the cover).
47.50 mm. diameter

Betts-615, MS62BN (PCGS)
Certfiied by PCGS, certification number 46467919.

Katherine Jaeger and Q. David Bowers, The Greatest Medals and Tokens.