Yorktown Centennial Medal

Artist Peter L. Krider (American, 1821-1895)

Date1881

MediumWhite metal

ClassificationsCurrency

Credit LineCollection of the Chrysler Museum of Art

Object number68.40.20

Terms

George Washington
Marquis de Lafayette
American history
American Revolution
Yorktown
War
Soldiers
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

On View

Not on view

DescriptionThis commemorative medal features relief profile portraits of Washington and Lafayette on the objverse. The reverse depicts the surrender of the British at Yorktown, October 19, 1781.

Label TextPeter L. Krider Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Yorktown Centennial Medal, 1881 White metal Obverse inscription: CENTENNIAL YORKTOWN VA. / 1881 DESIGN PATENTED JULY 18. 1881 Reverse inscription: SURRENDER AT YORKTOWN VA. / OCT. 19, 1781 Anonymous Gift 68.40.20 The superbly modeled high-relief profile portraits of Washington and Lafayette on this privately issued 1881 commemorative medal served as a model for the Lafayette Dollar - a silver United States commemorative coin issued in 1900. That coin, which was struck to raise money for a statue of Lafayette to be erected in Paris as a gift of the American people, has the distinction of being the first United States coin to bear the likeness of an American president. The now familiar Washington quarter did not appear until the bicentennial of Washington's birth in 1932.