Medals relating to Harvard University
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The obverse bears profile portrait medal of a Harvard president dressed in an academic robe. To left and right, MDCCC/LXVIIII - MDCCCL/XXXXIIII, signed at bottom, B. L. Pratt
The reverse bears two torches at left and right, a scroll reading VERI / TAS over the left, a wreath over the right, all surrounded by decorative wreath. Multi-line text accross, CAROLO / GVILIELMO · ELIOT / VNIVERSITATIS / HARVARDIANAE / VIGESIMVM · QVINTVM / IAM · ANNVM / PRAESIDI / OB EXIMIA · EIVS · MERIT-A / A · M · D · CCC · LXXXXIIII / ALVMNI
Charles William Eliot (1834-1926) was selected as Harvard's president in 1869. He transformed the provincial college into one of the most famous universities in the world. Eliot served until 1909, having the longest term as president in the university's history.
This beautiful medal celebrates Eliot's twenty-five years of service to the university.
The circular medallion measures 98mm in diameter and is cast in bronze. The mintage is not reported.
This medal's obverse bears Harvard's coat of arms with VE - RI -TAS on open books surrounded by wreath. Around, ANNO · ACADEMIAE · HARVARDIANA · TRECENTESIMO · - · MDCCCCXXXVI ·
The reverse bears multiline inscription, 1636 · 1936 / OUT OF SMALL / BEGINNINGS GREAT / ER THINGS HAVE / BEEN PRODUSED BY HIS / HAND THAT MADE ALL / THINGS OF NOTHING / AND GIVES BEING / TO ALL THINGS / THAT ARE
Harvard University itself needs little introduction. Founded in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature and named after its first prominent benefactor, John Harvard, Harvard is the oldest and probably most prestigious U.S. university (though Yale University is in eternal contention for the latter.)
Harvard University celebrated the three-hundredth anniversary of the College's founding in 1936 with an elaborate Tercentenary Celebration. The festivities included exhibits, special lectures, summer school courses, and culminated with the Tercentenary Days on September 16-18, 1936. Delegates from other academic institutions and learned societies were invited for the celebration and to participate in symposia discussing their fields. This medal was given as a present to all of the delegates who attended the celebration. The inscription on the reverse is a quotation from William Bradford's History of Plimmoth Plantation.
The circular medal measures 81.9mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company of New York. No mintage is reported. The medal was also struck in silver, attached to ribbons, and used as a badge by attendees of the Tercentenary Conference of Arts and Sciences. Smaller diameter coins were distributed as well during the conference.
References: MACo 1936-012, Marqusee 103