The E-Sylum:  Volume 5, Number 17, April 21, 2002, Article 4

1921 PLYMOUTH TERCENTENARY MEDALS

  Coincidentally, John Merz, in reference to Dick Johnson?s
  upcoming book on coin and medal artists, writes:  "I have a
  1921 Pilgrim half dollar with designer?s initial ?D? for Cyrus
  Dallin.  I also have an ?Official Souvenir Medal? dated 1921
  from the Plymouth (Mass.) Tercentenary Committee,
  commemorating the three hundredth anniversary of the landing
  of the Pilgrims.  The medal has no designer?s initial (that I can
  see).  Could it have also been the work of Dallin?"

  Dick's reply: "To answer your specific inquiry:  Cyrus Edwin
  Dallin (1861-1944) DID do a 1921 Plymouth Tercentenary
  Medal. But so did three other known artists (and perhaps a
  couple unknown artists).  And this is the reason for specialized
  collections and numismatists who collect, organize, describe
  and published specialized numismatic topics.  Bless their
  hearts!

  Malcolm Storer -- the medical doctor whose father was
  Horatio Storer who gathered and published the monumental
  work on medical medals -- gathered, organized, described
  and published the work on Massachusetts numismatic items.
  His "Numismatics of Massachusetts" was published by the
  Massachusetts Historical Society, 1923.  [I suspect his
  collection was started by his father, he inherited it, added to
  it and published HIS book.]

  Malcolm lists these medals for the 1920 Pilgrim Tercentennial:
  Storer 1558 by G.L. Turner (struck by Reed & Barton).
  Storer 1559 by the Dutch medalist Jan Pesynshof.
  Storer 1560 by Cyrus E. Dallin (signed Dallin).
  Storer 1561 by Julio Kilenyi (unsigned but struck and signed
      by Whitehead & Hoag).
  Storer 1562 and 1563.  Unsigned (and probably created by
      some unknown factory artists, perhaps at Blackinton or
      Robbins, nearby New England medalmakers).
  (Unfortunately Storer did not illustrate any of these medals.)

  Fifty years later, a Massachusetts numismatist, Robert Heath,
  began collecting, organizing, describing, and published his
  "Commemorative Medals of New England Cities & Towns,"
  beginning in 1977. His seventh Massachusetts edition (1995)
  lists five of these medals (omitting the Dutch medal); and adds
  one more. (His numbers: MA239-5 thru MA239-10).

  Heath did not illustrate the Dallin medal, However, this medal
  is illustrated in the book by Rell G. Francis  "Cyrus E. Dallin;
  Let Justice Be Done" as Figure 246, page 241.

  I cannot identify which medal is yours from the description you
  gave. Probably not Dallin since he did sign his medal. Perhaps
  a search of Heath would identify your medal quickly.

 Related problem:  Dallin did sign his models with his last name
 (he was a sculptor, not an engraver).  An earlier artist on an
 1883 Brooklyn Bridge Medal signed C.E.D. (same initials as
  Cyrus). He was an engraver, not a sculptor. All the work of
  this artist (we still do not know his identity) were struck by
  J.A. Diehl of Philadelphia.  [I suspect, but cannot prove,
  that C.E.D. was related to Diehl.]  Research continues."

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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