(1796) Bronze Medal Castorland Restrike - Reeded Edge

Coin Details

Description

Cataloged as W-9130 and PCGS #518540, this reeded-edge bronze restrike of the 1796 Castorland medal is the most commonly encountered variant among Castorland restrikes, making it the standard type for collectors entering this series. The original Castorland medal was commissioned by the Compagnie de New-York, a company of French refugees who purchased 210,000 acres along the Black River in Jefferson and Lewis Counties, New York, intending to establish a utopian agricultural settlement they named Castorland ("Beaver Land," after the region's abundant beaver population). The medal's obverse, engraved by Duvivier at the Paris Mint, depicts Ceres holding agricultural implements with the legend FRANCO-AMERICANA COLONIA, while the reverse features a map of the settlement region surrounded by the Virgilian inscription SALVE MAGNA PARENS FRUGUM ("Hail, great mother of harvests"). Struck in bronze, weighing 15 grams with a 32 mm diameter, the reeded edge distinguishes this variant from the plain-edge restrikes cataloged under W-9125. Although the French colonial venture ultimately failed due to harsh winters, conflicts with Native Americans, and insufficient capital, the medal survives as an elegant artifact of 18th-century Franco-American ambition, and restrikes from the original dies ensured the design's preservation for subsequent generations of collectors.

Rarity Notes

Common for Castorland restrikes.

Cross References

W-9130