MORE ON THE GOLD LIFESAVING MEDAL OF THE FIRST CLASS

Garrett H. White, the recipient of the gold Lifesaving medal was a Coast Guard “Surfman” and one of six recipients awarded the gold Lifesaving medal by the Treasury Department on June 18, 1880 for the February 3, 1880 rescue of the crew of the schooner E.C. Babcock and crew of the Spanish Brig Augustina during a vicious storm off Monmouth Point, NJ. During the rescue, Garrett's actions were particularly gallant as he rushed into the dangerous surf to untangle and rescue men on the line attached to the Augustina.

The other recipients during the rescue were:

Charles H. Valentine
Nelson Lockwood
Benjamin C. Potter
William H. Ferguson
John Van Brunt

The details of the rescue can be found online: http://www.uscg.mil/history/awards/GoldLSM/
3_Feb_1880_2.asp

John Sherman was the Secretary of the Treasury under Rutherford B. Hayes from 1877-1881. The 6-page handwritten letter from the Treasury Department which accompanied the medal is secretarial and not in the handwriting of John Sherman. Only the first page of the letter was pictured in the article, so it is uncertain whether Sherman personally signed the letter, or if it was also done secretarially. [I've added an image of the signature. -Editor]

During the storm on February 3, 1880, the Treasury Department awarded a total of 26 gold First-Class Lifesaving medals for two separate rescue events. Other than the six gold medals awarded for the rescue of the E. C. Babcock and Augustina off Monmouth Point, NJ, another 20 gold medals were awarded for the rescue of the schooner George Taulane off Swan Point, NJ that same day. Had Sherman written all 26 of the accompanying six-page award letters to the recipients personally, he would have needed to handwrite a total of 156 pages – which explains why he assigned this responsibility to others.

The gold Treasury Department Lifesaving medal awarded to Garrett H. White in 1880 is listed in Robert Julian's Medals of the United States Mint, The First Century 1792-1892, catalogued as “Julian LS-7”. In 1877, the Treasury Department reduced the size of the 1874 First-Class medal. The 1877-1882 LS-7 medal has the same designs both obverse and reverse as the earlier 1874 medal (Julian LS-5), but the size was reduced from 76 mm to 50 mm in diameter as seen with this medal. The most significant difference was the gold content which was reduced in 1877 from approximately 11 troy oz. to only 3 troy oz. In 1883, the First-Class medal was again reduced in size – to 44mm – but continued to maintain the same design.

The records in the Julian Mintage Records Appendix are as follows:

• 1876/1877 29 gold
• 1877/1878 7 gold, 5 copper (copper likely for collector purposes)
• 1878/1879 8 gold
• 1879/1880 14 gold
• 1880/1881 27 gold (26 of them for rescues during the February 3, 1880 storm off New Jersey)
• 1881/1882 3 gold, 2 White Metal
• 1882/1883 4 gold (Likely LS-9medals)

It is impossible to tell from the US Mint records in the Appendix of Julian the exact number of the larger LS-5 vs. smaller LS-7 medals struck. The first of the smaller medals were struck in mid-February 1877, and the records for this period begin with fiscal year 1876/1877, so it is unknown how many of the 29 medals struck within this timeframe were of the smaller LS-7 50 mm size.

The gold and white-metal medals struck during fiscal year 1881/1882 seem to contradict Julian's statement in the description of the medal that none of the 50 mm LS-7 medals were struck after 1880. The first of the smaller 44 mm LS-9 medals were struck beginning on June 16, 1883. The striking of these medals in 1883 falls within the fiscal year 1882/1883, so it is likely all 4 of the medals recorded were indeed the smaller LS-9 medals. Extrapolating from the records compiled in Julian, no more than 88, and no less than 56 of the gold 50 mm LS-7 medals of the type awarded to Garrett H. White were struck. In the 1986 Price Guide supplement to the Julian US Mint medal reference, Richard Hartzog lists a mintage of 88 LS-7 medals struck in gold.

The United States Coast Guard records show that there were a total of 37 recipients of the First-Class Lifesaving Awards between October 10, 1877 and February 4, 1881. The remainder of the gold medals issued were likely awarded outside of these Coast Guard records, and a few of the gold medals may have been struck for collectors.

One of the two rare white-metal examples of LS-7 (not engraved and thus unawarded) sold in the June 2004 Stack's sale of the Medio/Da Costa Gomez Collection, Lot 2782, realizing $489.00.

Close-ups of the high relief and Paquet's mark

Alan Weinberg adds:

On the larger LS-5 version
Jonathan Brecher writes:

To read the complete lot description for the gold LS-7 medal, see:
Lot# 2256: 1876 Treasury Department Lifesaving medal, first class. Julian LM-5. Choice Mint State. (http://prior.stacks.com/lotdetail.aspx?lsid=AN00000584&lotno=2256)

Regarding the John J. Ford collection, Alan Weinberg writes:

On the smaller LS-9 version
Alan Weinberg writes:

To read the complete lot description, see: U. S. Mint Medal: Treasury Department, Gold Life Saving Medal, First Class (http://historical.ha.com/itm/political/u-s-mint-medal-treasury-department-gold-life-saving-medal-first-class/a/6086-38334.s)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
GOLD LIFESAVING MEDAL OF THE FIRST CLASS (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v19n19a13.html)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web