Commems Collection Classic: 1925 Norse-American Centennial Medal - Correcting A Myth

The April 12, 1925 issue of The New York Times included an article titled "First Norse Settlers Arrived 100 Years Ago" with the subtitle "Centenary at Minneapolis in June Will Commemorate Landing of Pioneer Norwegian Immigrants and Their Work in Building the Northwest."

The article included the following statement: "A Norse-American centennial medal, the first commemorative medal to be issued in the history of the mint, has also been authorized by the Government. It will be designed by Earl Frazer."

Well, at least the piece got the designer's name almost correct - though the proper spelling of the artist's name is James Earle Fraser.

The 1925 Norse-American Centennial was far from the United States ("US") Mint's first commemorative medal. In my collection, for example, I have Mint-struck commemorative medals that date back to the 1870s. Also, I've posted stories about many of the Mint's pre-1925 commemorative medals here on CCF.

ICYWW: The Norse-American medals weren't even the first commemorative medals authorized by Congress, such milestone dates to 1876 and the US Centennial medals. (Prior commemorative medals were struck by the Mint without a formal Act of Congress - for example the 1875 Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence Centennial medals.)

Based on The Times article, John Dickinson Sherman penned an article titled "One Hundred Years of Immigration to America Celebrated in Twin Cities." The piece was a syndicated story distributed by the Western Newspaper Union, a syndicated service provider that offered content to newspapers across the US. Sherman's article was run in multiple newspapers across the country.

Note: Sherman was a Chicago newspaperman who rose to the position of Editor at several Chicago newspapers. In his final years before death, he wrote articles for the Western Newspaper Union. Sherman was born on August 30, 1859 in Chicago, Illinois; he died March 19, 1926 at home in Chicago.

Whether because of the name recognition of the original source, or the fact that the erroneous statement was reprinted in multiple other newspapers, the error persisted in the hobby for many years. Present-day resources recognize that the Norse-American medals were not the first commemorative medals struck by the US Mint, while recognizing that they were the first (and only) Mint-struck medals generally selected by collectors for inclusion in their classic-era US commemorative coin collections.

So, if you read about the 1925 Norse-American medals being the Mint's first commemorative medals, don't be fooled. You now know better!

1925 Norse-American Centennial Medal - Silver



For more of my topics on commemorative coins and medals, including more on the history and design of the Norse-American medals, see: Commems Collection.