Paris Mint Restrikes Historic Medals

Since 2020 the Paris Mint has paid homage to the history of American independence with a medals series. These euro-denominated silver and gold collector coins reproduce the famous Comitia Americana (“American Congress”) medals, which are believed to be the first American medals produced.

Augustin Dupré engraved the originals. He was the French mint’s famous chief engraver during the young American Republic.

These coins—part of the mint’s Great Dates of Humanity program—give average collectors a way to own low-cost versions of rare, valuable medals.

Battle of Cowpens

The latest and fifth medal is known as Daniel Morgan at Cowpens. That medal honored the 1781 victory of General Daniel Morgan’s armed forces against the British during the Battle of Cowpens in South Carolina.

In a crushing victory on January 17, 1781, General Daniel Morgan’s armed forces captured or killed about 75 percent of British forces. This first military success led to victory during the Battle of Yorktown and the Declaration of Independence.

The battle was the subject of three commemorative medals that U.S. Congress authorized. A gold example featured General Morgan, and two silver medals were awarded to the commanders of the cavalry and infantry. These were authorized at a time when Benjamin Franklin and D. Humphrey were in Paris negotiating an alliance with France. These talks led to the signing of the Treaty of Paris in September 1783.

Designs

The obverse design depicts Morgan’s victory. He’s shown full length in uniform about to be crowned by a Native American queen wearing a breastplate and feathered headdress. The acronym “RF” for French Republic appears above in the center below an inscription in Latin about Morgan.  The year of issue appears to Morgan’s right, while COMITIA AMERICANA appears at the bottom alongside DUPRES A. for Augustin Dupré.

The reverse features the general-in-chief leading the charge on horseback. His troops follow him on foot, along with the fleeing British forces. Latin inscriptions reference the victory and the date of the battle. The denomination appears below the upper inscription.

Production

The mint’s current General Engraver Joaquin Jimenez noted the difficulties of transposing old medals on to modern coins, which he called “a real challenge and a symbol of our age-old know-how.” 

The engraving workshop started by creating a resin casting of the original medals that are part of the mint’s historical assets. They scanned it with a laser, which transforms it into three-dimensional files. After that, artisans rework the resin to correct imperfections. Workers readjust the engraving height depending on the diameter of each high-relief coin and for the proof versions to ensure consistency. 

For coins with the smallest diameters, the dies are machined with a laser engraving machine. For the 85mm (half-kilo silver) coin, the machining is done with a digitally controlled milling machine. Finally, each die is carefully inspected and manually retouched “by the master engravers to ensure impeccable quality and faithfulness to the original medal,” according to the mint.

Coins

The medal design is featured on four new coins:

• 200-euro, 1-ounce .999-fine gold coin (antique finish), 34mm, 250 mintage
• 250-euro, half-kilo .999-fine silver coin (antique finish), 85mm, 250 mintage
• 25-euro, 2-ounce .999-fine silver coin (antique finish), 41mm, 2,000 mintage
• 20-euro, 1-ounce .999-fine silver proof coin, 37mm, 3,000 mintage

Prior coins in the series honored medals depicting French General Lafayette in Boston in 2020; General George Washington before Boston in 2021; the Great Seal of the United States in 2022; and the well-known Libertas Americana medal in 2023 to mark its 240th anniversary.  

Three more medals will be featured on coins to be issued in 2025-27.