USA Tin-Alloy Metal Medal 1892 - World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago

92.30g. 65mm. UNC/UNC. Marvelous brilliant icy mint frost specimen. 

Medalier: George Ludwig Friedrich Schmahlfeld; struck by Vilhelm Christesen (Copenhagen). 

Eglit 37. 

Obv.: Christopher Columbus standing aboard ship, holding a tiller with his left hand and the hand of a draped female figure with his right; she points outward beneath a radiant star. Inscription around. 

Inscription around: 

CHICAGO 21. OCTOBR. 1892. - GUANAHANI 12. OCTOBR. 1492. 

(Chicago, 21 October 1892 - Guanahani, 12 October 1492). 

Rev.: Eagle with spread wings above a tablet with inscription in six lines; below, exhibition building. 

Inscription on tablet: 

ESPOSIZIONE UNIVERSALE / CHICAGO 1893 / IN MEMORIA DELL’ ILLUSTRE / NAVIGATORE / CRISTOFORO COLOMBO 

(Universal Exposition / Chicago 1893 / In memory of the illustrious / navigator / Christopher Columbus). 

The World’s Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago in 1893, commemorated the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the New World in 1492. The fair became one of the most important international exhibitions of the late 19th century and was renowned for its vast scale, international participation, and the monumental “White City” built for the occasion.