A Closer Look at How Many of MacNeil’s Medals Were Made, And How Many Survive.
by WhyteCross & The Pan-American Census Project 09-17-2023
I believe that the 1901 Pan-American Exposition award medal by MacNeil (Lavin-TM103, Baxter 106, Marqusee 250) is the finest example of numismatic art from the pre-WWI era Beaux Arts-inspired renaissance of American numismatics. Having first encountered these pieces about a decade ago, it didn’t take long for my interest to become a passion, and for my passion to become a quest to obtain examples for my collection. But I quickly learned that examples were hard to come by. Consequently, my quest also became a search for knowledge: How many of the Pan-American medals were made, and where are they?
The golden age of World’s Fairs began in the 1850s. But the event that really established the connection between American numismatics and World’s Fairs was the 1876 U.S. Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. This was America’s first major multi-building World’s Fair, which saw the release of several dozen medals with more than 150 varieties. These pieces became an early and major addition to the “So-Called Dollar” area of our hobby[1]. This golden age lasted until the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition, with some later exceptions. Wikipedia calls this earlier, numismatically rich era of World’s Fairs the Industrialization Era, followed in the late 1930s by the Cultural Exchange and finally the Nation Branding eras[2].
Hermon Atkins MacNeil was a well-known sculptor and artist toward the end of the first era. He is most known to our community for having designed the Standing Liberty Quarter (1916-1930). But he wasn’t the only American coin designer to create World’s Fair medals during this period. Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and notoriously U.S. Mint Chief Engraver Charles Barber after Saint-Gaudens’ controversial original reverse was rejected (a fate that would mirror MacNeil’s own design controversy in 1916), designed the 1892 (minted 1896) Chicago Columbian Exposition medal (Elgit-19, HK-223). Adolph Weinman, designer of the Walking Liberty half dollar and “Mercury” dime, designed the four 1904 St. Louis Louisiana Purchase Exposition medals (approved by a committee that included Saint-Gaudens). James Earle Fraser–who would go on to create a more famous numismatic work with a first nation warrior on one side and a buffalo on the other, “undoubtedly inspired by the earlier medal”[3] (Buffalo nickel 1913-1938)–designed a special medal of honor for his mentor, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, for the 1901 Pan-American Exposition. He then won gold awards himself for sculpture at the 1904 St. Louis Exposition. Similarly, Hermon Atkins MacNeil won the gold medal he designed for the 1901 Pan-American Exposition for his sculpture exhibited there.
The Saint-Gaudens and Weinman exposition medals are all very good. Elements of them are great. But it is my opinion that MacNeil’s designs rise to a level that neither Saint-Gaudens nor Weinman achieved. MacNeil has been called the first truly American sculptor. Author Barbara A. Baxter says of MacNeil, “It’s clear the sculptor intended to produce a design that would be unmistakably American.”[4] It is this decidedly American subject matter that is part of MacNeil’s medals appeal.
But there is also an air of mystery surrounding these medals. The tragedy of President McKinley’s assassination at “The Pan” understandably took the wind out of the sails of the nation and the fair, which ended somewhat chaotically six weeks later. And the exact mintage of the medals remains in doubt. Those dark clouds reflected the same questions I encountered as I sought examples for my collection:
How many of the Pan-American medals survive, and where are they?
One “official” medal count from a contemporary St. Louis newspaper article accessible through the National Archives puts the total medal count at just 3,193[5]. The Buffalo Morning Express from October 10, 1901 confirms this count and includes a full list of the winners in every category and every medal[6]. The winners were selected from 7,000 exhibits, which “included an almost endless variety of objects, ranging from the simplest products of the soil and of the mine to the most delicate machinery and the most recent results of science and of art”[7]. The exhibits were divided into 17 divisions, mostly housed within their respective buildings. Those divisions were further separated into 139 groups, which were then subdivided into 580 classes. The individual exhibits within those classes were judged by a jury of experts (150 in all), whose recommendations were reviewed and approved by a superior jury made up of the Superintendent of Awards, the Secretary of the Board of Awards, the Superintendent of the Exhibit Divisions, and the Chairman of the Division Juries in the respective fields. Their findings presented “finally and without appeal the order of merit of the awards. Four classes of awards were offered to exhibitors, namely Diplomas of Gold Medals, Diplomas of Silver Medals, Diplomas of Bronze Medals, and Diplomas of Honorable Mention”[8]. In total, 3,193 medals were awarded: 887 gold, 1,159 silver, and 1,147 bronze. But as this was the Pan-American Exposition, the medals were distributed to exhibitors from 20 different countries in North, Central, and South America and the Caribbean. The United States led the final medal count with 1,826 total: 601 gold, 663 silver, and 562 bronze medals. (Note: Some silver medals are reportedly “silvered bronze”[i]. There are also two solid gold medals known, the Eldridge R. Johnson and the Compania Cigarrera Mexicana[ii].)
By comparison, a perusal of auction sites shows the Saint-Gaudens Columbian Exposition medals to be relatively plentiful. But the Saint-Gaudens medals were awarded in a different manner and to a larger population than the Pan-American. Rather than gilt, silver, and bronze given to the top exhibits in their respective categories, a point scale was applied. All exhibitors earning above that point threshold received a medal, resulting in a mintage of 23,597 pieces[9]. Not only was the initial mintage much greater, there were no tiers of medals–all were bronze. (A few gilt and partial gilt examples of the Columbian Exposition medals exist, and PCGS reports special proof gilt and aluminum versions as well.[10]) The four medals designed by Weinman for the 1904 St. Louis Louisiana Exposition were issued collectively and individually in greater numbers than the entire reported Pan-American run: 3,300 grand prize (Baxter-109, Marqusee-390), 9,000 gold (Baxter-108, Marqusee-391), 11,550 silver (Baxter-110, Marqusee-392), 10,000 bronze (Baxter-111, Marqusee-393) and even 6,000 commemorative medals, which were identical to the gold but without the individual winner’s name[11]. Another 2,400 grand, gold, silver, and bronze medals were issued for the Philippine exhibit alone[12]. Bookended between the 1893 Columbian Exposition with 23,597 medals and a combined 39,850+ medals issued for the 1904 St. Louis Expo, the reported 3,193 combined medals issued for the 1901 Pan-American Exposition seems remarkably small.
These figures underscore just how small the number of medals created for the Pan-American Exposition are by comparison. But when discussing the subject with collectors and dealers, the consensus seems to be that the number of surviving medals is significantly less than even these comparative numbers suggest.
A 2010 video by the American Association of Young Numismatists (AAYN) suggests the silver medals are “by far the rarest of the trio [bronze, silver, gilt]” and offers that “there’s probably about twenty silver pieces that remain”[13].
An excellent online resource for medal collectors, MedallicArtCollector.org, agrees: “The silver variants are very rare but no mintages have been reported”[14]. Auction listings and marketing copy from the intermittent sales of these medals echo this belief and seem to suggest that each of the three medals is likely R5 on the Sheldon Rarity Scale (rare: 31 to 75 existing examples), possibly even R6 (very rare: 13 to 30).
MedallicArtCollector’s observation suggests one explanation for the missing pieces: Awarded may not have equaled minted. A few examples of the ornate “diplomas” mentioned earlier still exist. The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts has one such certificate in their archives for a gold medal awarded to artist Thomas Eakins[15] . But unfortunately, the existence of these paper diplomas doesn’t prove a definitive relationship between them and physical medals.
Perhaps exhibitors packed up and left before the riotous end of the fair and the notorious “Buffalo Day,” which “began in failure—and ended in mayhem.”[16] Larger businesses or exhibitors from other countries may have been more interested in the publicity available to them for having exhibited and won than having a small physical token. Contemporary ads from this period showcase Pan-American medals, but they are often blank medals from a generic printer block[17]. There may have been a cumbersome or lengthy process for applying for and then receiving the medals. The prospect of international mail at the turn of the 20th century could have been a factor. The Exposition itself, originally slated to begin in 1899, was delayed by the Spanish-American war a year earlier[18]. Perhaps the tumultuous timing and memories of fresh conflict contributed in some way. While this is just speculation, the aforementioned Columbian Exposition medals weren’t struck until three years after that Exposition closed. And Fraser’s medal of honor for Saint-Gaudens wasn’t completed until after Saint-Gaudens’ death six years later[19].
A less hopeful explanation for their apparent scarcity could be that these medals were fodder for the various metal drives during the two world wars. As the 1943 steel cents testify, bronze (presumably including gilded bronze) was an urgently needed material for munitions. In truth, Grandpa’s 1901 medal for the best broom probably didn’t mean much by the time the U.S. entered the first World War in 1917, even less so by 1943. And the silver medal, which weighs 108.3 grams or the equivalent of about four U.S. silver dollars, could have put food on the table during the Great Depression. However, if these unfortunate scenarios are true for the MacNeil medals, so should they be true for the Saint-Gaudens and Weinman medals. But with original mintages in the tens of thousands, the medals from the other two fairs could have withstood losses of 80 percent or more, and survivors would still outnumber the entire reported mintage of Pan-American medals.
Of course, if all 3,193 MacNeil medals were minted and distributed, it is possible that they are still out there, tucked away as family heirlooms, in corporate safes, strong collector hands, or museum archives. Surely some fall into this category. But whether treasured or completely forgotten, the result is the same: They are not a visible part of our community or the marketplace, so they remain unseen and uncounted.
I acquired my first Pan-American medal, a bronze in its original velvet-lined box, from an online auction in 2016. The medal surpassed all of my expectations and I was hooked. I began searching for a silver medal to complement the bronze. That quest confirmed, for me at least, the perceived rarity of the silver medal. I finally found a stunning silver example at Heritage Auctions in June 2017. That silver medal was graded MS63 by NGC, one of only 11 mint state silver examples that NGC has graded to date[20] and the most attractively toned I had seen. I subsequently acquired an NGC-graded gilt medal in early 2020. Acquiring the silver and then the gilt reignited my interest in discovering the number of survivors of each of the three versions.
About the same time that I purchased my bronze example, I discovered a website dedicated to Lesher Referendum dollars (www.LesherDollars.com). I’m fortunate to have an example of the enigmatic Lesher dollar, an octagonal, dollar-sized, privately issued silver medal created as an advertising vehicle and to spur demand for native Colorado silver. Coincidentally, most of these are dated the same year as the Pan-American medals: 1901. Another similarity between the Lesher dollars and the Pan-American medals is that most have a unique identity. On the Pan-American medals, the recipient’s name was die struck in exergue, while on the Lesher pieces, many were numbered, and they often included the name of the business that distributed them. And finally, like the Pan-American medals, the original mintage of Lesher dollars is low but uncertain. Lesher himself told former American Numismatic Association President and past The Numismatist editor and publisher Farran Zerbe in 1914 that he had struck between 3,000 and 3,500 medals—a number approximating the reported 3,193 Pan-American count. But Lesher expert Adna Wilde estimated Lesher only struck about half that figure, perhaps 1,870 pieces. Both Zerbe and Wilde contributed to the study of Lesher dollars, identifying six types and 12 varieties. Their work and the unique identifiers of many Lesher dollars allowed for the creation of the dynamic census of the surviving examples at www.LesherDollars.com. Per this census, there are approximately 580 known survivors[21]. Some types are quite rare or even unique, and the percent of survivors is either as low as 18 percent based on Lesher’s seemingly high estimate of between 3,000 and 3,500 pieces struck, or as high as 31 percent based on Adna Wilde’s estimate of 1,870 pieces struck.
The age, identifiers, and estimated mintage similarities between the Lesher dollar and the Pan-American medals offer at least a vague apples-to-apples comparison. If Lesher’s own production estimate is accurate and the 18 percent survivor rate holds true, the reported 3,193 mintage of Pan-American medals suggests there should be around 500 Pan-American medals still in existence. If we assume many of the medals awarded to winners outside of our borders never resurfaced, the U.S. Pan-American medal count of 1,826 compares well to Adna Wilde’s more conservative estimate of 1,870 Lesher Referendum dollars struck. Applying the 31 percent survival rate to the U.S. Pan-American medal count would still yield around 500 surviving Pan-American medals.
So where are they?
Standing on the shoulders of the Lesher Dollars census and wanting to answer the question of how many Pan-American medals survive, I began the process of creating a census of existing Pan-American medals. The first step was determining criteria for inclusion. That criteria centered around images of the medals for several reasons:
* Clear images of the obverse allow for accurately recording the recipient’s name, reducing the possibility of duplication.
* Color images are important in determining medal composition. The identical design was used for bronze, silver, and gilt, and it can be difficult to tell which metal is which in black and white.
* Recent images (i.e., within the last 20 years) increase the likelihood that the medal is still extant.
While not strictly necessary for the medal count, clear reverse images allow for better identification and for additional notes on medal condition.
These criteria may seem somewhat limiting. For example, Marqusee’s own plate coin is not only black and white; it is nearly 30 years old and obverse only[22]. But I felt the criteria were important for creating an accurate census.
The sources I used in my research included current and closed auction listings, past posts on coin-related online forums, museum websites, and websites dedicated to MacNeil. I also emailed authors and museum collection managers and curators. I recorded the medals I found alphabetically by recipient’s name and by medal type. I also recorded the observable condition of each medal, (whether certified or raw), the source, the price at which the medal most recently sold if applicable, and other related details. Finally, I assigned each medal a unique census number. Sometimes I found the same medal in different circumstances: raw then certified, in one auction then another. After about three years of periodic research, the discovery of medals new to my searches grew less frequent. While this research is ongoing and may never be 100 percent complete, I believe I have the foundation of a census and some early observations worth sharing with the numismatic community.
Some of the early findings from this research are expected but some are eye-opening. A few follow:
- As predicted, there appear to be very few survivors. Only 94 unique medals have been found to date across all metal types: 28 bronze, 37 silver, 27 gilt, 2 gold. Even if we assume many additions will be made to the census over time, it appears safe to say that each of the bronze, silver, and gilt medals are R5 on the Sheldon scale at best.
- Surprisingly, with a recorded population of 37, silver survivors outnumber any other metal. There were more silver medals originally awarded, about 23 percent more than gilt, but only about 1 percent more than bronze.
- There are far more uncertified pieces documented than certified. Only 25 of the medals found so far are certified, or about 25 percent of the total.
- Of those certified, around 20 percent are below mint state and/or are details graded. If dealers and knowledgeable collectors tend to submit to third-party graders those pieces they have determined have a higher chance at straight-grading, it seems reasonable that this 20 percent figure comes from a population pre-screened for quality and condition.
- A corollary to #4 above: Uncertified examples seem to have a high incidence of observable condition issues. Noticeable rim bumps, harsh cleaning, gouges, even holes and soldered bales and chains appear on approximately 25 percent of documented medals. I am not a professional coin grader, but I believe this percentage is conservative. When obvious issues can be observed from small and/or grainy images, it stands to reason careful examination would reveal issues in greater numbers.
- Several medals originally awarded to entities outside of our borders have appeared in recent U.S. auctions and collections: Negociacion Minera Candelaria Y Anexas, Chalon Hermanos, El Salvador, Compania Cigerrara Mexicana, among others. This suggests a larger beginning population closer to the entire medal count rather than just the U.S. medal count, and therefore a smaller percentage of survivors.
- With only 94 examples documented to date, few graded by third-party graders, and condition issues appearing on 25 percent or more of surviving medals, the number of original, undamaged pieces appears to be exceptionally low. There may be as few as 20 to 30 pieces each of the bronze, silver, and gilt remaining that are problem-free and “uncirculated.” Even one of the two known solid gold medals, the Eldridge R. Johnson Victor Talking Machines specimen, is graded AU details by NGC.
We have constructed a website to allow this census data to be shared and added to by the numismatic community and beyond: www.PanAmCensus.com. We invite anyone who owns or knows of a 1901 Pan-American medal to visit and confirm their medal is accounted for, or to submit images so their medal can be added.
Conclusions and areas for further study
While stressing the preliminary nature of this data and hoping this new census and website will bring previously unknown examples of the medals to light, the number of surviving examples we have documented is quite small. Of a supposed mintage of 3,193 medals, fewer than 100 have been observed–a remarkably low figure of less than 3 percent. And of those survivors, a quarter to a half appear to have issues or wear commensurate with a technical grade below Mint State. The low incidence of problem-free medals is not surprising given the 120+ year history of these medals, originally issued and remaining for decades outside of the numismatic community. If cleaning and polishing coins wasn’t uncommon in the last century, polishing bronze and silver objects of vertu was the norm.
Ultimately, based on the research as it stands today, and especially compared to the similar age and mintage of the Lesher Referendum dollars with its documented existing population, we must question whether “Awarded equals Minted”. Baring discovery of a more definitive source, which we genuinely hope comes to light and for which we will continue to search, it seems probable and even likely that the number of 1901 Pan American Medals actually minted must have been smaller than the original figure of 3,193 pieces for whom diplomas were awarded. Extrapolation of that figure based on the Lesher dollars may be a bridge too far—especially with the hope and understanding that more MacNeil medals should come to light with this new census. But if we average the 31% survival rate of the Leshers as suggested by Lesher and Zerbe, and the 18% as suggested by Wilde, a 25% figure with our approximate 100 surviving examples of the MacNeil medals suggests an original total mintage in the 400 to 500 range across the three medal types of bronze, silver, and gilt.
Finally, in addition to our hope that many other MacNeil medals come to light and will be counted in the census, we hope that admirers of other coins or medals will be inspired to create similar censuses for the pieces they are passionate about. It is my hope the numismatic community will benefit from and contribute to this detailed accounting, and that a better understanding and census of the surviving medals will increase interest and help the 1901 Pan American Exposition Medals of Hermon Atkins MacNeil become better recognized as the treasures of American Numismatics and American History I believe them to be.
[1] “So-Called Dollars” https://www.so-calleddollars.com/Events/US_Centennial.html
[2] “Wikipedia” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_fair#Industrialization_(1851%E2%80%931938)
[3] Van Alfen, Peter “Monuments, Medals, and Metropolis, part II: Beaux Arts Sculpture: Saint-Gaudens’ Legacy in New York City” ANS Magazine 2004 vol. 3.1 p. 38
[4] Baxter, Barbara A. The Beaux-Arts Medal in America New York City: The American Numismatic Society, 1987, p. 38
[5] “The Library of Congress: Chronicling America” https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020274/1901-10-10/ed-1/seq-1/
[6] Pritchett, Henry S. “List of Prizes”, Buffalo Morning Express, (Buffalo, NY), pp. 7-8, October 10, 1901
[7] Pritchett, Henry S. “List of Prizes”, Buffalo Morning Express, (Buffalo, NY), pp. 7-8, October 10, 1901
[8] “List of Prizes”, Buffalo Morning Express, (Buffalo, NY), pp. 90-91, October 10, 1901
[9] “Coin World Magazine” https://www.coinworld.com/news/us-coins/market-analysis-medal-awarded-to-pope-leo-xiii
[10] “Professional Coin Grading Service” https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1892-1893-sc-1-eglit-90-aluminum-world-columbian-expo/642544
[11] “Expo Medals: Guide to Award Medals from US Expositions” https://www.expositionmedals.com/1904/
[12] Shenkman, David and Levine, Joseph “Exonumia Notebook: St. Louis Word’s Fair Official Medals” The Numismatist (October 1979)
[13] “YouTube” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULlOVUphXUg
[14] “Medallic Art Collector” http://www.medallicartcollector.org/awards.shtml
[15] “Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts” https://www.pafa.org/museum/collection/item/pan-american-exposition-gold-medal-certificate
[16] Mark Goldman, City on the Edge (Prometheus Books, 2007), p. 29
[17] “Hermon A. MacNeil Virtual Gallery and Museum” https://hermonatkinsmacneil.com/category/worlds-fairs/1901-pan-american-exposition-buffalo-ny/#jp-carousel-4110
[18] Smith, Pete “Names in Numismatics” The Numismatist (September 2001)
[19] “Professional Coin Grading Service” https://www.pcgs.com/news/augustus-Saint-Gaudens-fraser-medallion-fetes-genius-pays-tribute-to
[20] “https://www.ngccoin.com/census/united-states/pan-american-exposition-lavin/185/?des=MS
[21] “Lesher Dollars: One Man’s Vision” http://lesherdollars.com/
[22] Marqusee, John E. One Hundred Years of American Medallic Art 1945-1945 Ithaca, NY Cornell University, 1995
[i] There are some sources who note “silvered bronze” medals as a fourth type or sub-type to silver medals. Indeed, NGC has a separate listing for L-TM103 silvered but with no examples apparently graded to date. For my purposes, I have not separated sterling silver from silvered and the silver examples I have personally handled are all edge marked “sterling”. Though it is complete conjecture, I wonder if the ease with which bronze can be silver plated at home with common chemicals might be a contributor to the slightly larger than expected number of silver medals recorded. Comparing the list of silver medals in this new census to the published winner lists could aid in refuting or proving this hypothesis.
[ii] There are two known named solid gold medals–the Eldridge R. Johnson and the Compania Cigarrera Mexicana–and reports of a third blank solid gold medal. Despite their composition, I contend that these solid gold anomalies do not constitute an award level above gilt. They were likely offered as an option to gilt medal winners, who would have paid for them at their own expense, similar to the solid gold option offered to those who won “gold” medals at the 1904 St. Louis Louisiana Purchase Exposition (see the Eliasberg example: Stacks Bowers, lot #5055 March 2015). Indeed, Henry S. Pritchett, Superintendent of Awards of the Pan-American Exposition, addressed the idea of establishing an award level above gilt–a “grand prize.” At first saying “the matter has less significance practically than in theory,” then noting, “In one special case, the superior jury, upon the suggestion of the Jury in Fine Arts, recommended the bestowal of a medal of honor above and apart from all other awards. This action was taken in the case of Mr. Augustus St. Gaudens and in recognition of the superb works of genius which came from his hand and which were so splendidly shown at this exposition. This action was taken by the superior jury in a rising vote, in which every member came to his feet with the feeling that he was taking part in an action calculated to bring honor rather to the exposition than to him whose genius was thus recognized.”
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