100670 | UNITED STATES. "Flight" silver Medal.

100670 | UNITED STATES. Society of Medalists silver Medal. Issued circa 1970. Flight (72mm, 216.54 g, 12h). By B. Putnam.

 

Nude male left, with one knee on ground, propelling model airline in hand; rising sun in background / FLIGHT, dove flying right above the clouds. Edge: THE SOCIETY OF MEDALISTS TWENTY SIXTH ISSUE 1942 – BRENDA PUTNAM SCULPTOR ONE OF LIMITED ISSUE OF 700 / MEDALLIC ART CO N.Y. .999+ PURE SILVER.

 

Cf. Alexander SOM-26 (for overall type) and p. 100 (for note on silver issue); cf. Marqusee 326 (for bronze issue). Choice About Uncirculated. Argent matte surfaces, with some scattered spotting. A very rare later re-issue in silver, with a commissioned mintage of 700 pieces, but an actual reported mintage of just 100 specimens.

 

Of note to collectors of American coinage, Brenda Putnam worked under the likes of Bela Lyon Pratt and James Earle Fraser, and was the designer of the 1936 commemorative half dollar for the Great Lakes Exposition/Cleveland Centennial. In describing her perspective for this medal, Putnam wrote that "although this medal is issued during a period when the entire world is engaged in a gigantic struggle on land, at sea, and in the air, the theme of the medal is not warlike. The lad is no warrior, and the bird is no eagle. Rather does the design concern itself with man's creative struggle to win supremacy in a vast new region—the air."

 

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