(1846) Bronze Medal J-LS-4, Coast Survey

Coin Details

Auction Record

$138 SP66 09-16-2020 Heritage Auctions

Description

The circa 1846 bronze medal cataloged as Julian LS-4 commemorates the United States Coast Survey, the federal agency responsible for charting the nation's coastal waters and harbors. This medal falls within the broader category of naval-related awards and recognitions, though it honors a scientific and navigational mission rather than a military engagement. The Coast Survey, established in 1807 under Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler, produced the detailed nautical charts that made American coastal navigation safer and more efficient. The obverse features imagery related to the Coast Survey's mission, potentially including navigational instruments, ships, or cartographic elements. The reverse carries appropriate inscriptions recognizing the Survey's contributions. The 1846 date coincides with a period of significant Coast Survey expansion as the Mexican-American War and westward expansion required charting of new Pacific coastline. The Coast Survey evolved into the modern National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of Coast Survey, which continues to produce nautical charts for American waters. The organization's early-nineteenth-century work combining geodetic measurement, astronomical observation, and hydrographic surveying represented some of the most sophisticated scientific endeavor in antebellum America.

Rarity Notes

Bronze Coast Survey medals produced in limited quantities. Specialized appeal to collectors of scientific and navigational medals rather than strictly military commemoratives.

Cross References

Julian LS-4; PCGS #676136