Washington Westwood & Hero Medals

About This Coin

Combining two distinct but thematically related medal types, the Washington Westwood and Hero Medals within the George Washington Medals series encompass pieces that celebrate Washington's status as the supreme hero of American independence and pieces attributed to the Westwood manufacturing tradition. The Westwood medals — named for their attributed manufacturer or design source — feature portrait styles and production characteristics that distinguish them from other Washington medal families, while the Hero medals carry explicit inscriptions celebrating Washington's heroic stature using the classical vocabulary of virtue, valor, and patriotic self-sacrifice that dominated eighteenth-century political rhetoric. Both types were produced during the decades following Washington's death in 1799, when the market for Washington commemorative medals expanded dramatically as the Founding Father was transformed from a living political figure into the quasi-mythological "Father of His Country" whose image adorned medals, prints, textiles, and ceramic wares throughout the young republic. The medals in this grouping vary in size, metal, and artistic quality, reflecting production by multiple manufacturers serving different market segments — from inexpensive copper pieces suitable for mass distribution to finely executed bronze and silver medals intended for collectors and patriotic display. The George Washington Medals catalog organizes these varieties by die combination, providing the systematic framework that allows collectors to pursue specific types while understanding the relationships between different issues within the Westwood and Hero Medal families. Auction records show consistent demand for choice examples, with the combination of Washington subject matter and medallic art quality sustaining market values that reward both the historical significance and the aesthetic appeal of individual specimens.