1854 RESCUE OF THE S.S. SAN FRANCISCO MEDAL

1854 Merchants and Citizens of New York Medal for the Rescue of the S.S. San Francisco. Dies by C.C. Wright, struck and assembled by Ball, Black, & Co., New York. Silver. Choice About Uncirculated.

45.5 mm. 756.1 grains. Housed in an original applied rope bezel and loop with anchor decoration, as made. Awarded to Robinson Miller of the Lucy Thompson. Engraved on the reverse in multiple lines: PRESENTED TO ROBINSON MILLER, A SEAMAN ATTACHED TO THE AMER: SHIP "LUCY THOMPSON," BY THE MERCHANTS AND CITIZENS OF NEW YORK AS A TESTIMONIAL OF THEIR DEEP SENSE OF HIS HUMANE AND COURAGEOUS CONDUCT IN ASSISTING TO RESCUE THE PASS-ENGERS, OFFICERS, & CREW OF THE STEAMER SAN FRANCISCO IN THEIR PERILOUS EXPOSURE ON THE OCEAN, AFTER THE DESTRUCTIVE GALE OF THE 24 DECEMBER, 1853.

Charles Cushing Wright's die shows high enough relief to require double striking (two blows of the coining press), evidence of which is seen around much of the legends. In the foreground, the steamer San Francisco is seen amidst heavy seas, while dinghies ferry survivors to two schooners, representing the Antarctic and the Three Bells, in the background. The San Francisco's flag flies upside down, the classic signal for a seemingly doomed ship. The finely fashioned bezel perfectly frames the medal, which was struck with heavy diagonal denticles inside the rim on both sides to lend a double-framed appearance. A die crack within the denticles is seen at the right side of the reverse; smaller breaks are present within the reverse denticles near 6 o'clock and 8 o'clock.

In the aftermath of the San Francisco's loss at sea, the captains of the ships that came to her aid were lauded as heroes. Congress voted gold medals to the captains of the Kilby, Three Bells, and Antarctic, a medal cataloged by Julian as LS-11. The city of Philadelphia also authorized gold medals for the captains, now known as Julian LS-12. The Humane Society of Massachusetts presented medals to officers of all three ships. The city of New York also authorized medals for the heroes of the day, including the officers and seamen of the Lucy Thompson, the first ship to return survivors back to New York City.

Carl Carlson found records of just five examples of this medal that reached collector hands. Two of them, including this one, were included in the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection. One, presented to William McDonald of the iLucy Thompson/i, was offered in our October 2004 presentation of Ford's collection of life saving medals. First offered in the October 1864 W. Elliot Woodward sale and acquired from the March 1981 Garrett IV auction by Ford, it brought $17,250 in 2004. Ford's second specimen, the medal here offered, was sold with his collection of Western Americana, bringing $25,300 in October 2007. One of the few other specimens offered in modern times was sold in the June 1999 Andrew Zabriskie sale by Sotheby's as lot 556, offered after a century off the market with a fine provenance that included the February 1859 Augustus B. Sage sale and the legendary 1882 sale of the Charles I. Bushnell Collection. The only other two specimens traced by Carl Carlson were the example awarded to James Taylor of the Three Bells, first offered in January 1863 and last seen in the January 1890 Robert Coulton Davis Collection sale, and an unnamed example in Edward Cogan's sale of October 1878. Though it has been posited that the unnamed example is the white metal trial we sold in our November 2014 sale (lot 10093), the revelation of an unnamed silver example that sold as lot 12080 in our March 2016 Baltimore Auction could suggest otherwise. However, that piece was recently discovered in a Nashua, New Hampshire estate by an antique dealer seemingly without a numismatic context that might be suggested by appearance in a coin sale in 1878. As such, we suspect that is likely a new example which, if true, would bring the census of known examples to six.

Connected to one of the great nautical disasters of the 19th century, this medal is of interest to specialists in naval and life saving medals, California Gold Rush history, and the medallic works of the great C.C. Wright, who died in June 1854. Generations of collectors have come and gone without even a single specimen being offered through public auction. The Garrett and Zabriskie specimens, two of the five known, spent over a century in each of those cabinets; another has not been seen since 1890. Fortunate is any collector who gets to see a specimen of this rarity, let alone own one.

To read the complete lot description, see:
Extremely Rare 1854 Rescue of the S.S. San Francisco Medal (https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-RELMW/1854-merchants-and-citizens-of-new-york-medal-for-the-rescue-of-the-ss-san-francisco-dies-by-cc-wright-struck-and-assembled-by-bal)

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