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The E-Sylum: Volume 22, Number 50, December 15, 2019, Article 19

ATLANTIC CABLE MEDALS AND TOKENS

John Sallay writes:

The next time you are looking for a website to feature for the bottom of The E-Sylum, you might consider the medals and tokens page of the VERY large website that Bill Burns put together on the Atlantic cables.

We have referenced some medals from this site before, but never made it a Featured Web Site. But those articles only include one sample image to whet the reader's appetite, and I feel compelled to show more. It's a compelling collection of great medals commemorating a great feat of engineering and an even greater advancement for mankind. So here are some medals that caught my eye, and be sure to peruse the complete site for many more and all the background information on each. Great website! -Editor

1858 New York Chamber of Commerce Medal

1858 New York Chamber of Commerce Medal bronze obverse 1858 New York Chamber of Commerce Medal bronze reverse

The obverse side bears a globe supported by figures of Science and Navigation. A dove hovers over the globe, bearing an olive branch in her beak. Navigation is symbolized by a background sculptured with ships, anchors and sextant; and Science has a similarly appropriate surrounding. The seal of the Chamber of Commerce, between the arms of the two countries, is to be seen below.

After the successful completion of the Atlantic cable in August 1858, by order of the Chamber of Commerce of New York, Tiffany & Company made commemorative medals in gold, each engraved with the name of one of the members of the cable expedition who had sailed on the ships of the cable fleet: Niagara, Agamemnon, Gorgon and Valorous.

Copies of the medal were also struck by Tiffany in bronze for general circulation. 58mm, 115.4gm. Two different designs of the obverse are known; one (above) is the same as the gold medal;

1858 Lovett Tokens

1858 Lovett Atlantic Telegraph token obverse 1858 Lovett Atlantic Telegraph token reverse

George H Lovett made a variety of these tokens in 1858, in silver, copper, brass, and white metal. The obverse shows John Bull and Brother Jonathan exchanging lightning bolts across the ocean, with a ship laying cable between them; the most commonly seen reverse has the date of the landing of the cable..

Some examples have Lovett’s “Medal Die-Sinker” advertisement on the reverse. Others have “Boy and Dog/W.H. Bridgens New York”* on the reverse, with an image of a boy riding a dog.

1858 Stokes Token

1858 Stokes Atlantic Cable token obverse 1858 Stokes Atlantic Cable token reverse

This token, issued by Granville Stokes to promote his clothing business in Philadelphia, incorporates a section of the 1858 cable, and at 6mm (¼") is much thicker than a normal token.

Very cool relic piece. -Editor

1867 American Chamber of Commerce (Liverpool) Medal

1867 American Chamber of Commerce (Liverpool) Medal obverrse 1867 American Chamber of Commerce (Liverpool) Medal reverrse

This medal is bronze with a heavy gold plating, 76mm in diameter, 206.8 grams.

All the documentation for these medals when they were in the planning stages refer to an order for four medals in gold, but this one is gilt bronze, as is one of the two Cyrus Field copies at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

To visit the web site, see:
Cyrus W. Field Medals. Other Cable Medals and Tokens, including Great Eastern (http://atlantic-cable.com/Medals-Tokens/index.htm)

DWN E-Sylum ad01


Wayne Homren, Editor

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The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com

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