Bowers on collecting: American medals to the fore — the 1787 Washington and Columbia medal

By Q. David Bowers

Welcome to the latest installment in my series on the subject. I highlight some of those featured in the best-selling Whitman book, 100 Greatest American Medals and Tokens. This week I feature the Washington and Columbia medal, one of my all-time favorite items in American numismatics. I own a very nice example in the bank but still appreciate it every time I look at a photograph of it.

The 1787 Washington and Columbia Medal — An Early American Classic

Hover to zoom.

Before showcasing this medal, I will share some background information about how my interest was spawned. In 1979 John J. Ford, Jr. contributed the foreword to my book, Adventures With Rare Coins, a commentary telling of a collector friend and the appeal a certain medal had to him:

Ted Craige was once offered a specimen of the extraordinarily rare Washington and Columbia medal. It fascinated him, and after establishing what it was, he located a book titled Voyages of the Columbia to the Northwest Coast 1787-1790 and 1790-1793 by F.W. Howay.

Early on, he and I discovered that the particular piece he had been offered was spurious, a cast copy, but Ted read the book from cover to cover (all 518 pages) anyway. Once he got started, he couldn’t stop. Once he completed the book he couldn’t bear to part with it; it just had to be in his library. He even wanted to keep the fake medal, but the price prohibited it.

His enthusiasm grew as he researched the origin of the medal, the controversy concerning the diesinker, the purpose of issue, and other details. To my knowledge, he never owned a genuine specimen of this rare medal, but he certainly knew as much about it as any numismatist of my acquaintance.

Well, to me, this was so interesting that I had to get a copy of the Howay book. There was no Internet then, so this involved some letter writing. Finally, I tracked one down, after which I spent the next several evenings reading it cover to cover.

Then I simply had to own one! After some effort, I found a very nice example and I didn’t stop there. With my fine friend Anne Bentley, curator of the Massachusetts Historical Society, I learned more, studied the several examples in the MHS collection, and delved further into history.


Now, here is the information from the 100 Greatest Medals and Tokens book:

1787 Columbia and Washington Medal

6 silver known (3 in private hands)

4 to 6 copper known

2 or 3 white metal known

Copper impression of the Columbia and Washington medal presented in 1791 by John Barrell to the newly formed Massachusetts Historical Society, the first such society in America. Paul Revere, another contributor, saw the medal and offered to smooth and trim its edge, which he did by giving it a rounded rather than vertical format. The Society also has silver and white metal impressions.

By any account the Columbia and Washington medal is one of America’s most historical and important. In 2005 Anne Bentley, curator of the Massachusetts Historical Society, stated that this medal was the most important item in their collections. This piece is shown above.

Depicted on the obverse of this 40-millimeter medal are two ships and the inscription, COLUMBIA and WASHINGTON, commanded by J. KENDRICK. The Columbia Rediviva, usually called the Columbia, was an 83-foot-long full-rigged ship which displaced 212 tons. A consort was provided for her by the Lady Washington, under Captain Robert Gray, usually cited simply as the Washington, a sloop of 90 tons. Interestingly, the dropping of the Lady in popular usage has resulted in some demand for this medal by collectors of George Washington numismatica.

The reverse bears the inscription Fitted at Boston, N. America, for the Pacific Ocean, by J. Barrell, C. Brown, C. Bulfinch, J. Darby, C. Hatch, J.M. Pintard, 1787. Charles Bulfinch was one of America’s best-known architects. The dies are attributed to Joseph Callender, who also cut dies for 1787 and 1788 Massachusetts copper coins. There were two reverses made: the 1st and the 2nd, with slight differences in the arrangement of the lettering and ornaments.

The ships were set to sail from Boston to explore the distant coast of the Pacific Northwest in the area now known as the states of Oregon and Washington. Medals were struck, some say by Paul Revere. A few silver impressions seem to have been for presentation to the ship’s owners, in addition to some white metal pieces as well. Comprising most of the production were several hundred copper examples to be taken for distribution to Native Americans. Also taken were newly minted 1787 Massachusetts half cents and cents.

The ships set sail on September 30th of that year, with Captain John Kendrick in charge of the expedition. They traveled together until at Cape Horn (at the tip of South America) they separated, not to see each other again until they arrived at Nootka Sound on the Northwest Pacific coast.

Today, the larger ship is remembered in the name of the Columbia River, first seen by Captain Gray. The voyage was the first in which the American flag was carried to the region of the Pacific Northwest. The Columbia returned to Boston on August 9, 1790, having made history as the first American vessel to have circumnavigated the globe.

The 1st reverse as illustrated by a white metal example in the Massachusetts Historical Society collection. Note the rosette at the top center border.

Estimated Market Values

Silver Strikings

Mint State-60 to 62: $100,000 upward.

EF-40 to AU-58: $40,000 to $70,000.

Very Fine-20 to 35: $25,000 to $40,000.

Copper and White Metal Strikings

Mint State-60 to 62: $20,000 to $25,000.

EF-40 to AU-58: $10,000 to $20,000.

Very Fine-20 to 35: $5,000 to $10,000.

Commentary: Values are highly conjectural due to the extreme rarity of these medals. A superb high-grade copper medal in the Massachusetts Historical Society, presented by one of the voyage’s planners, is the key item in that museum and is priceless.

If you wish to reach out to me for commentary, questions, or suggestions, I can be contacted via e-mail at qdbarchive@metrocast.net.

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Comments

  1. datadave says

    OT – Any dollar collectors out there? I plan on getting some of the Thorpe dollars today. I like this series with only one per year.

  2. jp says

    @datadave, I’d purchase a box of ten of both P and D. The purchase was separate of other items, because they are not securely cushioned in the shipping box and their weight will damage the other items. I agree with other’s comments that it looks like a nice design.

  3. Tinto says

    @datadave

    I like this Thorpe design a lot and glad the Treasury Secretary took the CFA’s recommendation.

    I’m gonna buy it in silver proof set, silver RF proof set and unc set .. really too bad the Mint discontinued issuing these in EU C&C sets from 2017 on (though they made 250k EU NA $1) .. I liked them in those sets ..

  4. Teach says

    @ Louis – why the mention of the coin? Do you live in an area that has a Native American population or something related to Thorpe? Rarely, if ever here do you hear any coin news on area TV news. ( and I only live 12 miles from Amos Press – Coin World )

  5. gatortreke says

    Re: the Thorpe dollars, I’m one of the weirdo’s who buys a 250 coin box of the Sacagawea’s each year, keeps two rolls and spends the rest. I like spreading them around, they frequently start a conversation, especially with the cashiers at the convenience stores. I think one at a store I frequent collects the dollar coin from my spendings. He is genuinely excited to get them so there is at least one other person out there who likes them. Is this financially a good plan? No, I recognize that but I enjoy it and it doesn’t cost me much. I’d much rather do this than buy a lottery ticket.

    I have a limited number of graded coins but I have a graded coin for each of the Enhanced Uncirculated Sacagawea coins from the EU sets. Personally, I’ve liked most of the special designs for the $1 Sacagawea coins. Buy what you like. 🙂

  6. Goat says

  7. Buzz Killington says

    Even though I am a buy-and-hold guy myself, GE stock is a great example of the pitfalls of that kind of investing.

    GE’s best days are behind it, and there is really no way to bring it back. Investors do have to pay attention to this kind of thing.

    I saw an interview with Jeff Bezos years ago, where he said, one day, Amazon will go out of business. No matter how great a company seems now, it has an expiration date. No business venture will last forever. That is not exactly breaking news, but people don’t like to be reminded that it is, in fact, true.

  8. LurkingTroll says

    OT – Customer Loyalty or USM Gimmick?
    Pay for shipping (or not with enrollments) three times and the rest of your orders ship free (budget) for the rest of the calendar year.
    Anybody else notice this new USM Promotion?

  9. cagcrisp says

    @Jerry Diekmann, “. I think I am correct in stating that GE is the only stock that has stayed in the Dow since it was created back in 1896.”

    Yes, you are Correct…

  10. cagcrisp says

    @Goat, “Iam curious why is this not on a buy list at $10.50”

    Warren Buffett has stated that he would buy All of GE at a price.

    He’s just never said at what price…

  11. cagcrisp says

    Buzz Killington,”I saw an interview with Jeff Bezos years ago, where he said, one day, Amazon will go out of business. No matter how great a company seems now, it has an expiration date. No business venture will last forever. That is not exactly breaking news, but people don’t like to be reminded that it is, in fact, true.”

    Ill have to agree with Bezos…

  12. cagcrisp says

    @A&L Futures,”Breast Cancer Awareness 2018 Proof $5 Gold Coin

    Household Order Limit: 1″

    I Am Surprised ..

    I’m in the camp that there will Not be 50,000 Sold…Ever…

    …And…If there is Not a SO , then a HHL is counterproductive…Even if it is for 24 hours…

  13. earthling says

    Lurking Troll

    I think the Mint needs to dabble in Negative Shipping to really chase up some ordering. Along the same lines as Negative Interest , Negative Shipping would result in the Mint paying you to order. It would look like a discount on your orders but could be spun to look like something else.

    Desperate Mints need to do Desperate Things.

  14. Jerry Diekmann says

    Thanks for the validation, cagcrisp. Now that would really be interesting if Buffet would buy GE. But the capitalization of this stock is probably too rich for Warren, even at these low prices that GE has sunk to, while the other industrial stocks are doing very well. The problem has to be with bad management, and lack of any far-thinking strategies, personified in the now departed Jeff immelt, who took a winner in 2000 and turned it into a loser by 2017.

    You never know about Buffet – he owns a lot of a lot of stocks and some companies he owns outright. I became a Berkshire Hathaway stockholder years ago when Buffet purchased Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad. I’m pretty sure he is not happy with his holdings in Wells Fargo, which should probably be nationalized and then sold. Terrible, crooked bank..

  15. Daveinswfl says

    IMHO, GE is too diverse and poorly managed with negative earnings, negative returns of all kinds, negative EBIDTA, payout ratio over 100%, and on &on. I see no positives in the stats that would indicate a buyout.

    Kinda like coin collecting nowadays ☹️

    I suppose breaking up and selling off assets of GE might make it more attractive.

  16. KEITHSTER says

    L.T. it’s huuee didn’t work for Me so ya Gimmick!! I did post on it a couple of times before so had to try it? Ordered 2 pucks each in it’s own box with what should have been free shipping? But it did charge for the shipping but said it would be removed when they ship! And guess what gullible sucker bought that theory . That’s right and now I have to go through all the – – – – just to get the money back so yes I vote BS !!! Good Luck With It All You Will Need It “>”>”><"<"<"

  17. earthling says

    RHODIUM BID 1700.00 ASK 1850.00 +10.00

    Arggggg…………. shoulda coulda woulda………

    Too late now. I dont jump onto moving Trains. When Rhodium was down around $650 that was the time. Shoulda coulda woulda…………..

    😥

  18. Jerry Diekmann says

    Anthony – yes, Eastman Kodak, a once venerable company and in the Dow, but which became bankrupt because of really poor management and a belief that film was a forever product, which it turned out, sadly for them, it was not. Poor management and a lack of strategic thinking spells doom for companies, even big companies like GE and Eastman Kodak. If you study the history of the Dow you will find many examples of once-great companies that have disappeared as time passed them by. I think Sears, once the dominant retailer in the country, will be gone within five years.

  19. Numismatrix says

    Nice Post – it is very impressive that medals can generate such value.

    JerryD : “Kodak, a once venerable company and in the Dow”

    Interestingly, Kodak was the original inventor of the CCD digital camera.
    I believe the erstwhile AT&T Bell Labs had the original patent
    for the CCD as a memory device.

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