Description

This white metal medallion was struck in 1866 as a memorial to President Abraham Lincoln who had died from an assassin's bullet on April 15, 1865. The sculptor cut the dies of "unusual thickness and great relief" causing only a small number of medallions being struck before the dies broke. A right-profile bust in relief of President Lincoln is the central feature of the obverse with "Salvator Patriae" embossed one word on each side. The sculptor's name "Emil Sigel Fecit." appears below the bust. The reverse features a laurel wreath surrounding the following inscription, "In memory of the life acts and death of Abraham Lincoln, born February 12, 1809, died April 15, 1865." An inscription on a ribbon wound through the laurel wreath in very small font reads "Pub. by The American Numismatic and Archaelogical Society, New York, 1866." For more information on this medallion, see Lincoln Lore issue number 1595, January 1971, page 4. Part of the Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection, courtesy of the Indiana State Museum