A medal described as the “holy grail of Columbian Expo numismatics” sold at auction on March 21, for $45,600. Stack’s Bowers Galleries offered a rare example of Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ Columbian Exposition award medal with his original–and ultimately rejected–reverse side image of a nude male youth.

Each exhibitor at the 1893 World’s Fair received an award medal, meaning that 20,000 or so such medals were minted, and many still circulate among collectors. At any given time, several typically are for sale on eBay.

Saint-Gaudens’ (standard) obverse of the Columbian Exposition award medal [Image from Stack’s Bowers Galleries.]

Saint-Gaudens designed the obverse face of the 76-mm bronze medal, which depicts a full figure of Christopher Columbus with outstretched arms stepping onto the shores of the “New World.” Standing behind Columbus are three other men with the inscription “CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS OCT XII MCCCCXCII” above them. The distant background shows the three ships of his expedition sailing between pillars with the motto PLUS ULTRA (“more beyond”).

The standard reverse of the medal was designed by Charles E. Barber, chief engraver at the United States Mint, because the U.S. Senate Quadro-Centennial Committee deemed Saint-Gaudens original design unacceptable due to its depiction of a nude youth. (Poor Gus already had received flak from prudes who did not appreciate his nude female sculpture Diana!)

This rejection led to a protracted battle between Saint-Gaudens and the U.S. Mint. Writing in Coin World, Steve Roach notes that “Barber did not appreciate outside artists meddling in the day-to-day business of the mint, and sculptors perceived Mint engravers as inferior talents. Saint-Gaudens wrote that he accepted the commission largely to keep the design out of the hands of Barber.”

Saint-Gaudens’ rare reverse of the Columbian Exposition award medal [Image from Stack’s Bowers Galleries.]

This World’s Fair “holy grail” that sold at auction last week was the only known example in private hands of a two-sided bronze medal having Saint-Gaudens’ original design, according to Stack’s Bowers.

The auction house describes Saint-Gaudens’ reverse design as “a standing, naked youth symbolizing young America, holding a torch in his outstretched right hand, his left hand clutching a trio of laurel wreaths and supporting a tall shield emblazoned with a bald eagle, olive branch and the stars and bars shield, an oak sapling and sculptor’s initials ASTG to right, the long Expo inscription to left, the hyphenated date 1892-1893 in Roman numerals below.”

Though rejected at the time of the fair, this Saint-Gaudens’ medal has earned its place among the great Columbian Exposition auction sales.