Original Strike

About This Coin

Conceived by Benjamin Franklin in 1781 and executed by the renowned Parisian engraver Augustin Dupre, the original strike Libertas Americana medal stands as one of the most celebrated achievements in the history of numismatic art and American diplomatic symbolism. Franklin commissioned the medal while serving as American Minister to France, designing its allegorical program to celebrate the decisive American victories at Saratoga in 1777 and Yorktown in 1781 that secured French military commitment and ultimately won the Revolutionary War. The obverse depicts Liberty as a young woman with flowing hair, surrounded by the Latin inscription LIBERTAS AMERICANA and the date 4 JUIL. 1776 — July 4, 1776 — explicitly linking the medal to the Declaration of Independence. Dupre's masterful reverse shows the infant Hercules strangling two serpents representing the British armies defeated at Saratoga and Yorktown, while Minerva (France) shields the child with her aegis, a powerful allegory for French protection of the young American republic that flattered Louis XVI's court while celebrating American martial achievement. Original strikes were produced at the Paris Mint in gold, silver, and bronze, with the gold specimens presented to the French king and queen and the silver pieces distributed to members of the French court and government. The bronze strikes, produced in somewhat larger quantities, constitute the most available metal for collectors, though even bronze originals from the 1780s command substantial prices when they appear at major auctions. Authentication requires careful examination of the die characteristics, edge treatment, and overall fabric to distinguish eighteenth-century Paris Mint originals from the numerous later restrikes produced at both the Paris and Philadelphia Mints throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.