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The Warrior & Sage Medal

T

he first medal to honor the great Washington is something of a mystery. Numismatists have come to call it the Voltaire medal for two reasons. First, the reverse inscription, WASHIN. REUNIT PAR UN RARE ASSEMBLAGE LES TALENS DU GUERRIER & LES VERTUS DU SAGE (Washington unites in a rare combination the talents of the warrior and the virtues of the sage), was taken from Voltaire’s epic poem, La Henriade , first published in 1723. 1 Second, the first notice of its appearance in the London Chronicle on April 16, 1778 directly assigned responsibility for its issue to him: A medal has been lately struck at Paris, by direction of Mr. Voltaire, in honour of Gen. Washington: on one side is the bust of the general, with this inscription, G. Washington, Esq; Commander of the Continental army in America: the reverse is decorated with the emblems of war, and the following inscription: “Washington reunit par un rare assemblage Les talens du Guerrier & les Vertus du sage.” ( London Chronicle on April 16, 1778) An American expatriate in England, Samuel Curwen, recorded the following in his diary on April 20, 1778:

On horseback to Spencecomb, the seat of Mr. Rowe, near Crediton, in company with Mr. and Miss Bretland; passed an agreeable day, with numerous company; this is a week of festivity following Easter Sunday - hospitably lodged and entertained; our host is of the rank called gentleman farmers, or landholders in fee of estates from £100 to £800 sterling per annum. A medal has lately been struck at Paris, by order of Monsieur Voltaire, in honor of General Washington, on one side is the bust of the general, with this inscription: “G. Washington, Esq., commander of the continental army in America.” The reverse is decorated with the emblems of war, and the following: Washington reunit par une rare assemblage les talens du Guerrier et les vertus du Sage. 2

More than likely, Curwen was simply repeating the London Chronicle announcement from several days earlier . His diary wasn’t even published until 1842, but the entry serves as a second contemporary notice of the undated medal, and confirms that it was struck prior to April 16, 1778. It is curious however, that the first notice of a “French” medal struck to the order of Monsieur Voltaire should have appeared in an English newspaper, and not one published in the country where reason dictates such a notice should have originated. In fact, there was no contemporary notice of any kind for this medal in France at all. It is also interesting to observe, that no record of any medal other than this one, “struck by the direction of Mr. Voltaire,” has ever been discovered. Perhaps the medal is misnamed, there being no contemporary evidence beyond the London Chronicle notice, connecting it to Voltaire at all. Voltaire had only been granted release from exile in January 1778. He returned to Paris in February. On April 29th, he and Franklin had their famous and well documented public meeting, and no presentation or mention of a medal of any kind was recorded. A month later, on May 30th Voltaire died. During his brief time in Paris practically every move he made and every word he uttered was reported in some way, and no record of a medal issued by him or any of his contemporaries to honor Washington has ever been found. One final point: at the time this medal was issued, French law prohibited the striking of any medals by any entity other than the Monnaie de Paris. The process was lengthy and well documented, and there is no record of this medal. Neither has it ever appeared in any of their catalogs. On July 19, 1777, Josiah Wedgwood wrote to his business partner, Thomas Bentley, questioning the wisdom of publishing a medal 3 with the head of Washington

The Early Medals: 1777 to 1858 • 3