NEWMAN PORTAL SEARCH: SIMON BOLIVAR MEDAL

Newman Portal Search: Simon Bolivar, Three Countries, Three Medals

This week a Newman Portal user searched for “Simon Bolivar Medal.” Wikipedia provides the context. Bolivar (1783-1830), “also colloquially [known] as El Libertador, was a Venezuelan military and political leader who played a leading role in the establishment of Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Panama as sovereign states, independent of Spanish rule.” It’s no surprise that contemporary medallic tributes honor such a leader, and Newman Portal can be used to identify three of them.

Stack’s George Gund III sale catalog, January 15, 2007 , lot 3267 (realized $1,035)

Almanzar’s Medina sale catalog, April 12, 1971, lot 179

Another example, from Colombia, is found in the Medina collection sold by Almanzar’s in April, 1971, lot 179. This features two angels on the obverse with the inscriptions A / SIMON BOLIVAR / LIBERTADOR DE COLOMBIA / Y DEL PERU / EL CONGRESO DE COLOMBIA / ANO DE / MDCCCXXV.

Finally, a third Bolivar medal is listed in the Johnson & Jensen sale of December 1978, lot 224. Johnson catalogs it as Bolivian, “1825, 1 5/8-inch (42mm) bronze, reeded edge. City of Potosi shows its gratitude to the Liberator. Uniformed bust facing right, inscription around border. So-called proclamation piece.” Such pieces are akin to those honoring American revolutionary heroes, and offer a way to “collect history” for substantially less funds than the American equivalents.

Link to Stack’s Gund III catalog on NNP:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/auctionlots?AucCoId=3&AuctionId=517511&page=66

Link to Almanzar’s Medina sale catalog:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/auctionlots?AucCoId=510226&AuctionId=518415&page=26

Link to Johnson & Jensen December 1978 sale:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/auctionlots?AucCoId=511036&AuctionId=518008&page=13

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web