LOT Heritage Rare Coin Galleries  /  2007 Long Beach, CA Sig. Coin Auction #430  / 

29

1872 Norman Medal, Julian AM-9, PR60 Uncertified. Gold.

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:1.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1872 Norman Medal, Julian AM-9, PR60 Uncertified. Gold.
<B>1872 Norman Medal, Julian AM-9, PR60 Uncertified.</B></I> Gold. 70.9 gm. Accompanied by the original case and a newspaper article about the 1895 recipient, William Hammond Hall. The Norman Medal was presented annually by the American Society of Civil Engineers for the Best Essay on Engineering. According to R.W. Julian, "The Norman medal for the ASCE was struck in gold, beginning in 1875. There was none struck from 1876 to 1878, but after that there was usually one made per year." The Norman Medal is not illustrated or described by Julian in his reference. Obviously few of these medals were produced, and likely fewer survive. The surfaces retain highly brilliant yellow-gold color and fully reflective mirrors, although each side is moderately abraded and scuffed.<BR> William Hammond Hall, a resident of San Francisco, became the first Californian to win the Norman Medal in 1895. An article in the July 3, 1896, issue of the <I>San Francisco Chronicle,</B></I> accompanying this medal, states: "Each year upon the decision of a committee of judges, a gold medal is struck off at the Philadelphia Mint and is awarded for the best professional essay of the foregoing character thoroughness of work in construction and accuracy and fullness in recording results , submitted to the society during the preceding twelve months, and descriptive of a notable engineering work personally carried out by the author."<BR> Hall was responsible for construction of a canal for irrigation in the San Jacinto Valley. The canal spanned over five miles from the Santa Ana river and posed substantial problems. Along this stretch were five tunnels and two miles of open flume that included 2,000 feet of steel bridgework. Much of the canal was along steep canyon walls. "There are sand boxes, a walled canal, waterways, junctions between tunnels, special flume constructions, and a great variety of hydraulic problems of more than ordinary difficulty."<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Coins & Currency (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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