Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Medal, 1905
date: label: date made
content: 1905
label: associated date
content: 1905-03-05
name: label: associated person
content: Roosevelt, Theodore
label: associated person
content: Saint-Gaudens, Augustus
label: associated person
content: Weinman, Adolph A.
label: maker
content: Tiffany & Company
label: designer
content: Saint-Gaudens, Augustus
notes: label: Description
content: Theodore Roosevelt met sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens in the 1890s, when T.R. was an aspiring young politician, and Saint-Gaudens was establishing a reputation as a brilliant artist. When Roosevelt was elected President in 1904 and needed an inaugural medal, he gave the commission to Saint-Gaudens after rejecting the standard, unmemorable medal typically produced for this occasion by the United States Mint.
label: Description
content: Saint-Gaudens's results shattered precedent. The piece was modern in all senses of the word. There was no attempt to beautify or romanticize the President's head on the obverse, yet the image clearly conveyed vision and power. The reverse was, if anything, even more groundbreaking. The magnificent, left-facing eagle epitomized authority and presence, while displaying a classical ancient style. (The same eagle is used on the Saint-Gaudens $10 in 1907). This bird unquestionably ruled all it surveyed.
label: Description
content: Saint-Gaudens's success with this medal convinced Roosevelt that the artist was the partner he needed to collaborate on a pet project: the redesign of America's money. Saint-Gaudens signed on, and the plotting began. But the potential for trouble hovered on the horizon: this medal had been struck, not by the United States Mint in Philadelphia, but by Tiffany & Company in New York. If the Mint hadn't produced Saint-Gaudens's medal, would it agree to produce any of his coins?
place: label: place made
content: United States
label: associated place
content: United States
topic: label: related event
content: Presidential Inauguration of 1905
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: National Numismatic Collection
label: See more items in
content: Coins
label: See more items in
content: Numismatics
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content: Coins, Currency and Medals
label: See more items in
content: Legendary Coins
label: Exhibition
content: Value of Money
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Feingold, Ellen R.. Value of Money, The
label: Related Publication
content: Glossary of Coins and Currency Terms
label: Related Web Publication
content: http://americanhistory.si.edu/coins/glossary.cfm
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2005.0142.02
label: accession number
content: 2005.0142
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0142.02
objectType: label: Object Name
content: medal
label: Other Terms
content: medal; Presidential
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: bronze (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: .5 cm x 7.4 cm; 3/16 in x 2 29/32 in