Abraham Lincoln Medalet Commemorating His Address at Independence Hall, Philadelphia, February 22, 1861

A small gold-colored Abraham Lincoln medalet — a medalet being a medal under about an inch across. The obverse (front) shows a bearded bust of Lincoln facing right in a coat, with the legend ABRAHAM LINCOLN divided around the rim, ABRAHAM reading up the left side and LINCOLN down the right. The reverse is filled with incuse lettering — letters stamped into the surface rather than raised — on a granular field: "I HAVE / NEVER HAD A / FEELING, POLITICALLY / THAT DID NOT SPRING / FROM SENTIMENTS / EMBODIED IN THE / DECLARATION / OF / INDEPENDENCE. / ABRAHAM LINCOLN." Lincoln spoke those words at Independence Hall in Philadelphia on February 22, 1861, on his way to Washington for his first inauguration; the medal omits the word "the" before "sentiments." The Yale University Art Gallery records this same type, line for line, as "Medal of Abraham Lincoln Commemorating his address in Independence Hall," artist unknown, dated only "after 1861, 25 mm and 5.81 grams. No maker's mark, designer's initials or date appears on this piece, and no catalog number has been confirmed for it. And the beat goes on. The gold tone darkens toward the rims, the fields are finely granular, and there are scattered small nicks, including one at the tip of the nose. The reverse lettering is complete and legible. Raw and uncertified.