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Pillar of the Community
United States
834 Posts |
This thread is dedicated to the Longines Symphonette Society's "Great American Triumphs" medals. The complete set includes 60 medals in sterling silver or pewter, all of which were produced by the Wittnauer Mint. I have 40 of the 60 medals (sterling silver) and a few original documents that came with the set. I did a quick bit of research and it looks like the Longines Watch Company sponsored a radio program back in the 1940s - I presume it was classical music (thus "Longines Symphonette Society"). They distributed box sets of albums from the program as well other collectible items. The "Great American Triumphs" medals were released over a five-year period from 1971 to 1976, and they were sold by subscription: one per month for 60 months. There are other sets by Longines and Wittnauer and I'm sure that other members have more / better information than I do - so feel free to add or correct anything I wrote here. I'll start this thread by posting some of the documents here, then I'll upload blurry and shaky images of my medals over the next few days. First, up: the Welcome Letter that came with the first medal - it describes the series etc. Second, the "Bonded Five-Year Guarantee" that came with the medals.    |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
987 Posts |
Thank you for starting this thread. These medals are beautiful, with tremendous high-relief.
I had not heard of the pewter versions before.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
834 Posts |
Quote:
I had not heard of the pewter versions before. Me either ... but they mention them in the paperwork - they were $5.00 each as opposed to $8.00 each for the sterling silver. |
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Pillar of the Community
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834 Posts |
Here are a few more documents from the series. First, a brief letter from the Society saying that the collection is one-third complete and announcing the upcoming medals... Then, a letter and set of instructions related to the display case that came with the medals. The most interesting thing here is in the letter: it says the final slot in the display case is 44mm - an extra large spot for the final medal in the series: the Bicentennial. I don't have that one but I wish I did! BTW: I don't have the display case, but I imagine that they were flimsy and fell apart very quickly.    |
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Moderator
 United States
187702 Posts |
Looking forward to the show!  |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
6514 Posts |
Looking forward to following along as well. Edit: looked on ebay at many of these medals. Wow are they fantastic. Edited by chafemasterj
02/12/2019 3:54 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5239 Posts |
I just checked ebay and it seems that they are selling at a modest premium over bullion. Definitely affordable if you are into that. They were also issued in bronze. I would pick up a few if they came into my LCS. |
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Pillar of the Community
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834 Posts |
Here is one more document that came with my set of medals. It's just a brief letter talking about the medals - in part it says that each medal has at least 525 grains of sterling silver and boasts about the relief and finish etc. (They are really nice medals!)  |
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Pillar of the Community
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834 Posts |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10284 Posts |
You may already be aware of this link Apparently The Franklin Mint had a hand in these for Longines Symphonette. https://franklin-mint-silver.com/lo...s-medals.htmI have several of these medals, some were also made in bronze besides pewter and sterling. I think we can determine the series by the Eagle on the reverse below the text with the shield? I was trying to find a checklist, if I find one, I'll let you know. I really didn't want to be the first one to post a picture of a medal since this isn't my thread. Go for it Jeff! |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10284 Posts |
OK found a list of all 60 in no particular order.
1. The First Flight 1903
2. Model T Ford 1909
3. Perry Finds North Pole 1909
4. Battle of San Juan Hill 1898
5. Women's Suffrage 1920
6. Purchase of Alaska 1867
7. Light Bulb Edison 1879
8. Statue of Liberty 1886
9. Transcontinental Railroad 1869
10. National Parks Yellowstone 1872
11. Old Ironsides 1812
12. Panama Canal 1904
13. Telephone Alexander Graham Bell 1876
14. Robert E. Lee 1862
15. S. Gompers-A.F.L. 1886
16. The Doughboys 1918
17. Gettysburg Address 1863
18. Lindbergh Flies The Atlantic 1927
19. Inauguration of President Roosevelt 1933
20. China Clipper 1935
21. Roosevelt's Four Freedom 1941
22. Prelude to Victory 1944
23. Iwo Jima 1945
24. V.J. Day 1945
25. Polio Vaccine 1954
26. Dawn of the Jet Age 1959
27. Mark Twain
28. Man's First Walk on the Moon 1969
29. Patrick Henry
30. The Lewis and Clark Expedition
31. Walt Whitman
32. Will Rogers
33. Kennedy's Inauguration 1961
34. Babe Ruth
35. Albert Einstein
36. Centuries of Liberty Peace Progress 1776-1976 Statue of Liberty
( larger then the others and has 2 diamond chips. )
37. George Gershwin
38. Ernest Hemingway
39. Reverend Martin Luther King
40. The Macon and Akron
41. Founding of Boonesborough Daniel Boone 1775
42. Paul Revere's Midnight Ride 1775
43. Battle of Concord Bridge 1775
44. Washington Crossing the Delaware 1776
45. Betsy Ross and the Flag 1776
46. The Declaration of Independence 1776
47. "I Have not yet begun to Fight" John Paul Jones 1779
48. Washington's Farewell to his Officers 1783
49. The battle of New Orleans 1815
50. Fulton's Folly 1807
51. The Star Spangled Banner Francis Scott Key 1814
52. Gold at Sutter's Mill 1848
53. James Audubon 1827
54. Clipper ship Flying Cloud 1851
55. The Pony Express 1860
56. The Alamo 1836
57. Walter Reed 1901
58. Eli Whitney and His Cotton Gin Patented in 1794
59. Samuel F.B. Morse 1836
60. Brigham Young 1847
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10284 Posts |
Those I have of this set BRONZE 4. Battle of San Juan Hill 1898 STERLING 11. Old Ironsides 1812 14. Robert E. Lee 1862 34. Babe Ruth 41. Founding of Boonesborough Daniel Boone 1775 45. Betsy Ross and the Flag 1776 47. "I Have not yet begun to Fight" John Paul Jones 1779 51. The Star Spangled Banner Francis Scott Key 1814 54. Clipper ship Flying Cloud 1851 Those I may hunt down in silver 4. Battle of San Juan Hill 1898 18. Lindbergh Flies The Atlantic 1927 27. Mark Twain 30. The Lewis and Clark Expedition 42. Paul Revere's Midnight Ride 1775 49. The battle of New Orleans 1815 55. The Pony Express 1860 56. The Alamo 1836 It is important to look for this on the reverse, there can be several similar medals from different sets with the same theme. For example, Pony Express, The Alamo and others.  Edited by TNG
02/12/2019 8:07 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
834 Posts |
By all means - please post all your pics here!
My purpose here is to illustrate these great medals and we need the best possible pics to do them justice.
Where'd you find the complete list of medals? I'm curious about which order they were made - I'm sure someone here will know.
BTW: I checked out that link (above) and it's a third-party site run by a couple of collectors/dealers. They do have a bit of info about Longines but it's under their "other mints" page which includes Danbury etc.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
987 Posts |
Quote:
Those I may hunt down in silver
4. Battle of San Juan Hill 1898
18. Lindbergh Flies The Atlantic 1927
27. Mark Twain
30. The Lewis and Clark Expedition
42. Paul Revere's Midnight Ride 1775
49. The battle of New Orleans 1815
55. The Pony Express 1860
56. The Alamo 1836 TNG, what did you think of the ring I posted made out of "Paul Revere's Midnight Ride"? I thought it looked nice at the LCS, but I don't know if the images did it justice. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10284 Posts |
OK here goes those that I have . . . By the way, these were made by Whittnauer Mint? Bronze Battle of San Juan Hill 1898  STERLING Old Ironsides 1812  Robert E. Lee 1862  Babe Ruth  Founding of Boonesborough Daniel Boone 1775  Betsy Ross and the Flag 1776  "I Have not yet begun to Fight" John Paul Jones 1779  The Star Spangled Banner Francis Scott Key 1814  Clipper ship Flying Cloud 1851  Edited by TNG
02/12/2019 8:24 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10284 Posts |
I made up that checklist at some point and saved it in notebook.
The ring is cool, I don't wear any jewelry but I imagine it's a heavy thing.
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Replies: 156 / Views: 36,323 |
Posted 02/12/2019 1:38 pm
