A unique gold medal celebratingthe Revolutionary War victory by Brigadier General Daniel Morgan over British Armyforces in the 1781 Battle of Cowpens in South Carolina is making its first appearancesince it sold at auction for $960,000 in April 2022. It apparently also is the first time it isavailable for general public viewing since its creation in 1839.

The winning bidder in the Stack's Bowers auction, Brian Hendelson, president ofClassic Coin Company (www.ClassicCoinCompany.com) in Bridgewater, New Jersey,has loaned the historic Daniel Morgan at Cowpens medal and its original red leatherand purple velvet presentation case to the Museum of the American Revolution inPhiladelphia (www.AmRevMuseum.org).

Insured now for more than $1 million, it is a featured part of an exhibit entitled that is now on display at the museum.

'I've collected early Americana for many years, including historical treasures fromthe Revolutionary War period. Adding the Daniel Morgan at Cowpens gold medal to my collection certainly is a tremendous honor. It commemorates an important event in earlyAmerican history and honors a Revolutionary War hero who often is overlooked today,said Hendelson.

he explained.

The medal is cataloged as Betts-593, Julian MI-7, Loubat 8.

Morgan led his Continental troops in a decisive victory over British LieutenantColonel Banastre Tarleton on January 17, 1781 at what is now the Cowpens NationalBattlefield in Gaffney, South Carolina.

The Museum's description of the battle states:

In March 1781, Congress authorized the creation of a large gold medal to honorMorgan. Struck in Paris by the French engraver Augustin Dupre, it measured 56millimeters in diameter and weighed 4.8 troy ounces.

Morgan received the medal in 1790. He died in 1802 and his one-of-a-kind goldmedal was among the items stolen in a burglary at the Pittsburgh Farmers andMechanics Bank 1818. It was never recovered.

Morgan's grandson, Morgan Lafayette Neville, was an executive of the bank. In1819, he began efforts to get a replacement medal, including writing to former PresidentThomas Jefferson who carried the original medal with him when he returned from Parisin 1789 to become the first U.S. Secretary of State.

Eventually, in July 1836, Congress approved "An Act to renew the gold medalstruck and presented to General Morgan, by order of Congress, in honor of the battle ofCowpens." But the grandson died three years later in March 1839 before the medal wascreated.

Finally, in December 1839, based on the design from Paris used to create thestolen and missing medal, the Philadelphia Mint struck a single Morgan at Cowpensmedal weighing 4.79 ounces of fine gold. It was subsequently presented in 1841 toMorgan's great-grandson Morgan Lafayette Neville, Jr. and it remained in the familyuntil 1914. Since then, it has been privately owned by others including the family ofbanker, financier, and philanthropist John Pierpont Morgan Jr.

Known as the Comitia Americana (Latin for American Congress) series,Congress authorized only seven gold medals for heroes of the American Revolution.However, apparently only six were actually made for individual recipients and theMorgan medal is the only one now privately owned.

The six who received medals were General George Washington, General HoratioGates, General Anthony Wayne, Gen. Nathanael Greene, Captain John Paul Jones(whose original medal has not been seen since his death in 1792 and may have beenmelted), and General Daniel Morgan. A medal authorized for General Henry Leeapparently was never stuck.

The nonprofit Museum of the American Revolution is located at 101 South 3rd St.near Independence Hall in Philadelphia. It is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.Admission tickets can be purchased by calling 215-253-6731, obtained for a $3 discountonline at www.AmRevMuseum.org, or purchased at the museum's front desk.

For additional information about Classic Coin Company, visitwww.ClassicCoinCompany.com or call 908-725-5600.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
GOLD MORGAN COMITIA AMERICANA SURFACES(https://www.coinbooks.org/v25/esylum_v25n09a34.html)