1917 Medal Johnson-39 Matte Bronze Joseph Hodges Choate

Coin Details

Description

The 1917 Johnson-39 matte bronze medal honors Joseph Hodges Choate (1832-1917), one of the most distinguished American lawyers and diplomats of the Gilded Age. Choate served as United States Ambassador to the Court of St. James's (Great Britain) from 1899 to 1905 and was a leading figure of the New York Bar for over half a century. He successfully argued numerous landmark cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including the case that struck down the federal income tax in 1895 (Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.), a decision later overturned by the Sixteenth Amendment. The medal is cataloged as Johnson-39 in the reference on medals by the American artist Robert Ingersoll Aitken and other prominent American medalists. The matte bronze finish, achieved by striking with sandblasted dies, gives the medal a soft, velvety texture that was considered the height of medallic artistry in the early twentieth century. The surface diffuses light rather than reflecting it, emphasizing the sculptural qualities of the portrait. Choate died on May 14, 1917, making this medal either a memorial tribute or a late-career honor produced shortly before or after his passing. His legal career encompassed the transformation of American constitutional law during the industrial era, and his diplomatic service bridged the crucial period when the United States emerged as a world power. The medal preserves in bronze the features of a man whose influence on American law and diplomacy was profound and lasting.

Rarity Notes

Johnson-39 is a cataloged medallic portrait by a prominent American sculptor. Matte bronze medals of this type were typically produced in limited editions. Choate memorial medals are collected by both legal and numismatic enthusiasts.

Cross References

PCGS #683569; Johnson-39; Joseph Hodges Choate (1832-1917)