QQ7 

 1879.1 °~* ^ Phillip*. 



Additional Notes upon tin', Collection of Coins and Medals now upon Exhi- 

 bition at the Pennsylva lia Museum and School of Industrial Art, Memo- 

 rial Hall, Fair mount Park, Philadelphia. By Henry Phillips, Jr., A.M. 



{Bead before the American Philosophical Society, October Zd, 1879.) 



Since the notes I had the honor of presenting to our Society last Feb- 

 ruary there have been so many additions to this collection that a further 

 description may be ot interest. 



Recurring to the arrangement originally projected, the first head to 

 which I would call the attention of the Societj r is that of Medals. 



The medal issued to commemorate the 21st anniversary of the founda- 

 tion of the Numismatic and Antiquarian Society of Philadelphia (January 

 1, 1879), and the twelfth presidential term of the Hon. Eli K. Price, has 

 been placed in the medal case, and likewise the full materials for exhibiting 

 its process of manufacture. First there is the large plaster cast taken from 

 the wax me lallion originally modeled from life ; this latter being perish- 

 able has not been preserved, but the plaster representation exhibits a per- 

 fect fac simile of the original. Secondly, is the same portrait in plaster 

 reduced by mechanical means to the size it is to occupy on the die. Third 

 is the hub upon which the portrait is cut in alto relievo by a machine 

 which reproduces in any desired size the figure which it is to bear, and 

 which is afterwards tempered to hard steel. Fourth, the die which is 

 struck from the hub and shows in intaglio the portrait intended to be 

 impressed upon the medal. It is at first soft, so as to easily receive the im- 

 pression, and it is then afterwards hardened so as to bear the necessary 

 amount of pressure and blows. There are also leaden trial impressions of 

 the dies. These show the whole process of making the dies. 



The medal bears upon its obverse the portrait of the venerable gentleman 

 in whose honor it was struck, surrounded by the inscription, Eli K. Price, 

 President, 1879. On the reverse the seal of the Society and the inscription, 

 The Numismatic and Antiquarian Society of Philadelphia, founded 

 January 1, 18o8. The meaning of the devices on the seal are as follows : 



The owl, which is the crest, symbolizes wisdom and learning ; it is taken 

 from the device upon the coins of Athens, issued in the fifth century before 

 the present era, and is a faithful copy of that archaic work of art. 



The shield, upon which the quarterings are displayed, is the Saxon 

 shield, emblematic of English ancestry and associations; the emblems on 

 each of the four portions of the shield represent, respectively, Europe, 

 Asia, Africa, and America. 



Europe presents the cross as found upon the coinage of the first Chris- 

 tian kings of England ; Africa, the Egyptian sphvnx ; Asia, a Chinese 

 coin, and America, the stone arrow heads, axes and implements of the 

 Aborigines. The motto vestigia rerum sequi refers to the nature of the 

 Society's occupation*. 



There is also a medal fin bronze) of the late Joseph J. Mickley, the first 

 President of the Numismatic and Antiquarian Society of Philadelphia. 



