(1819) Medal I.O.O.F Silver, Baltimore Masonic

Coin Details

Description

This silver Masonic medal was issued by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) in Baltimore, Maryland. The I.O.O.F., founded in Baltimore in 1819 as the first American lodge of the fraternal order, became one of the largest and most influential fraternal organizations in the United States during the nineteenth century. Baltimore's Odd Fellows lodge held special significance as the birthplace of American Odd Fellowship, and medals issued by Baltimore lodges carry particular historical weight within the fraternal numismatic specialty. The silver composition indicates a presentation or commemorative piece of elevated status, as routine lodge medals were typically struck in base metals. Masonic and fraternal medals represent a substantial subcategory within American numismatics, documenting the social infrastructure of lodges, chapters, and encampments that played a central role in American community life throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The I.O.O.F. adopted elaborate symbolic imagery on their medals, typically incorporating the three-link chain (representing Friendship, Love, and Truth), the All-Seeing Eye, and various implements associated with their degree work.

Rarity Notes

Silver I.O.O.F. medal from Baltimore, the founding city of American Odd Fellowship. Individual lodge medals were produced in limited quantities for local membership. Silver strikings are scarcer than base-metal versions.

Cross References

PCGS #825679; I.O.O.F. Baltimore