I found that Tom Elder correspondence addressing the first gold US Mint-struck lifesaving medal in his auction to be fascinating. I own the only two gold LS-1's (ref. Robt. W. Julian's US Mint Medals 1792-1892) known and a possibly unique silver awarded specimen too. Unawarded Bronze LS-1 specimens struck for collectors are quite scarce.

The first gold originally-cased specimen I acquired came directly from Jacques Schulman in Amsterdam (older brother of American coin dealer Hans Schulman) and is engraved in the Dutch language. Jacques informed me the recipient was actually a Dutch Pirate Captain and it was awarded to him during Lincoln's administration.

The 2nd gold specimen originated with dealer Fred Werner who first offered it to me and then, when I passed as I already had one, sold it to John J. Ford. I acquired it out of Stack's Ford auction.

The silver, which is apparently rarer than the gold, is in an original ornate presentation case and was acquired privately along with a pristine LS-2 silver in its original case after I chased the pair for over a decade.

Julian indicated the LS-1 medals were awarded to foreign recipients who aided American seamen in distress while the more primitively designed (although curiously more charming) LS-2 was struck for award to American lifesavers. Interestingly, there are no known gold LS-2's but there are at least 6-8 known silvers, several holed or battered.

I wonder where that Elder gold medal is today, as he specifically states the edge is impressed "The First Life Saving Medal Ever Awarded by U.S. " No known U.S. gold lifesaving medal has such an obverse or reverse die-struck or edge-impressed inscription. I'm thinking now that Elder gold medal is an electrotype or cast, like a museum exhibit specimen. I wonder if in fact Elder ever did place it in his May 15, 1909 auction?

To view the complete descriptions of Alan's medals on NeoCollect, see:
United States of America Lifesaving Medal (LS-1)(www.neocollect.com/item/1026/)
United States of America Lifesaving Medal (LS-1)(www.neocollect.com/item/1110/)
United States of America Lifesaving Medal (LS-2)(www.neocollect.com/item/1120/)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: JUNE 15, 2014(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v17n25a09.html)