Commemorative Medallions 1912

Metal Commemorative medallions

#1 (The Greatest Name and date 1912 flanking the Master's image)

I wonder how many of these medallions were made and how many people have them today? 

This medallion was created by Theodore Spicer-Simson, an English sculptor living in Washington, D.C. in 1912. He met Abdu'l-Baha at the home of Alexander Graham Bell and was commissioned by Agnes Parsons to made the medallion.  (sitting: May 24, 1912)

#2 Medallion made by Louis Potter 

Roger Dahl of the U.S. National Baha'i Archives writes: "It came in a nice little case. The Circle of the Friends of the Medallion was formed by Robert Hewitt Jr. and Charles deKay, with the plan to produce two medallions a year. It was fairly short lived, producing 12 medals between 1909 and 1915. The `Abdu’l-Bahá medallion was designed by sculptor Louis Potter so I have the medallion in our Works of Art Collection. Apparently the Circle was the model for the more successful Society of Medalists."

On the Medal Collectors of America website <http://www.medalcollectors.org/Guides/CoF/CoF.html> I found another image of the medallion!  I can't quite make out the words at the bottom under the word "Abdu'l-Baha." There is another image next to it, presumably the back side, with the words "Peace, Love, Unity." The only information is that it was number 7 of the 12, manufactured in November 1912 at Joseph K. Davison & Son, Philadelphia, subject: Abdu'l-Baha, Persian Reformer, size 76 x 51 mm.  Louis Potter was the designer, and he did not design any of the other medallions. 

The website also mentions: "The Medals were issued in diecut pages bound in tan cloth books making the set a bookshelf collection. From published membership lists it can be surmised that no more than 500 of any of medals were issued. Allan Newman’s number twelve is the scarcest. Victor Brenner’s number four, Motherhood, is the most popular. Paul Manship’s number eleven is the most expensive (sought after by art galleries). Members of the Bahai religion seek issue number seven, of Abdul Baha, since their religion did not sanction portraits."  [An interesting misconception re. the image of the Master.]

So, now a question: who commissioned this work? Surely someone knows something more about the history of the medallion!  Perhaps someone will be inspired to create one in 2012!  

When I was trying to figure out the origin of the medallions, Rob Stockman responded: "I am under the impression that Elbert Hubbard and the Roycrofters might be involved. He was a major figure in the arts and crafts movement and wrote an article about `Abdu'l-Bahá that was effusive of praise for Him, but also inaccurate. Hubbard, for example, says `Abdu'l-Bahá visited the White House and spoke before Congress. It turns out Ali Kuli Khan was working on both of those things, but they didn’t happen. You can google him and the Roycrofters to find out more about them, though I don’t think a Bahá'í connection will come out that way. The Roycrofters produced a beautiful book about `Abdu'l-Bahá."

 So--I am still on a quest to discover all that there is to know about the various medallions produced in or around 1912 of `Abdu'l-Bahá.  Lucky are the ones who own one of these treasures!