R.W. JULIAN ON THE PRESIDENCY RELINQUISHED MEDAL

Apparently there is still some confusion regarding the so-called restrikes of the Presidency Relinquished medal. The following points apply:

1) Mr. Lopez credits me with various remarks concerning the original dies by John Reich and the published medals by Joseph Sansom. The material in question was actually written by Stewart Witham, who was especially interested in this medal. Witham is in fact credited in the text for his material.

2) The quote from Franklin Peale was not in the original TAMS medal book because it was not found until after publication.

3) There is no question whatsoever that the 1859 dies were in fact hubbed from the original Reich dies. It would have been virtually impossible for an engraver to cut a pair of dies that exactly matched the originals. The only artist at the Mint in 1859 capable of such work was A.C. Paquet, who was quite busy on other matters. In addition, even had a skilled engraver been able to exactly duplicate the motifs it would have taken a considerable amount of time; the hubbing described below could have been accomplished in a matter of days. The fact that Baker also says that they were hubbed is merely added proof; to be precise Baker says that the dies were made from “hubs taken from the original dies,” which is not the same as hubbing an entire die.

4) Mr. Lopez indicates that he requires further written proof of the work before he will accept that the 1859 dies were hubbed. Records of hubbing were not kept at the Mint but the Peale quote, the posted illustrations, and the Baker citation are in themselves sufficient proof.

5) As the method of hubbing medal dies is not well known it is perhaps best to describe the process. A piece of soft steel, just large enough to cover the main motif (such as the head of Washington) was pressed against the original negative dies in the large screw press. It took several blows to bring up the design, with annealing between the blows.

6) The result of the work was a positive hub in soft steel of Washington’s head. The engraver then made changes or improvements (such as removing imperfections) in the soft steel hub. The hub was then hardened and used to punch the vignette into a new die. The lettering was added by one of the engraving staff and the die hardened for use. Similar steps held for the reverse.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see: PRESIDENCY RELINQUISHED MEDAL RESTRIKE REVISITED (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v17n02a12.html)

Wayne Homren, Editor

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