The Washington Funeral Medal is an artifact of early American exonumia. It was privately struck in January 1800 to commemorate George Washington’s death on December 14, 1799. As a tangible emblem of national mourning, it functioned as a ceremonious accessory rather than currency. Newburyport, Massachusetts workshops produced examples in multiple metals aligned with available resources and designated recipients.
Historical Context & Significance
As news of George Washington’s death reached municipal leaders in 1799, formal ceremonies around the nation were organized. Boston’s Masonic Brotherhood conducted a memorial procession on February 11, and the city’s public ceremony followed on February 22, Washington’s birthday.
Philadelphia and New York held similar events, each featuring civic officials, fraternal lodge members, and large assemblages of citizens. Contemporary newspapers reported draped facades, solemn musical processions, and prescribed mourning attire. While they rarely described medals, Masonic lodge records from Boston and Philadelphia confirm their use in fraternal commemoration.
European Roots of the Washington Funeral Medal
These medals trace their lineage to European funeral coins, such as the 1679 Sterbethaler commissioned for Duke John Frederick of Brunswick-Lüneburg, which depicted a skeleton breaking palm fronds as a memento mori. American organizers replaced macabre allegories with Washington’s portrait and classical mourning symbols, reflecting Republican values and reverence for his legacy. They introduced a distinctly American approach by adopting European commemoration methods while emphasizing portraiture.
Designer & Production
Jacob Perkins of Newburyport engraved and supervised the production of the Washington Funeral Medal. Perkins had earned renown for banknote engraving and anti-counterfeit techniques. Perkins prepared hand-cut dies featuring Washington’s bust and inscriptions, using a high-pressure screw press to strike medals that exhibit fine relief and sharp lines.
Surviving die pairs display minor discrepancies, such as variations in letter spacing, relief depth, or star-point alignment, indicating the production of multiple dies. Perkins sent his dies to lodge members in Boston and Philadelphia, permitting local strikes under his direction. Civic committees and lodge funds financed production. Period advertisements list gold medals at $1.50, while other versions carried lower prices or served as complimentary tokens at funeral ceremonies.
Composition and Design of the Washington Funeral Medal
Composition
The Washington Funeral Medal was struck in four different compositions: gold, silver, copper, and an unspecified white metal. Each was selected for functional or symbolic purposes. Perkins polished each die to ensure the screw-press strikes rendered crisp profiles and detailed shading. Modern X-ray fluorescence analysis confirms that silver variants exceed 90 percent purity and copper specimens contain early nineteenth-century alloy impurities, assisting authentication.
Design of the Washington Funeral Medal
Obverse Design
It features a left-facing bust of Washington draped in a coat. Inscriptions read “GEORGE WASHINGTON PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES” and “HE IS IN GLORY THE WORLD IN TEARS,” drawn from late-eighteenth-century funeral elegies.
Reverse Variants
Masonic Procession
The Masonic issue depicted a skull and crossbones on an inverted star, symbolizing Freemasonry’s meditation on mortality, with a rope surrounding the design for fraternal unity. Inscriptions read “FUNERAL MEDAL OF GEORGE WASHINGTON” and “MDCCXCIX MDCCM” (1799 1800).
Public Procession
The Public procession reverse features a funerary urn atop a pedestal engraved with “GW” and is surrounded by a beaded border with “FUNERAL FESTIVITIES FOR GEORGE WASHINGTON JANUARY 1799, 1800.”
Ladies Medal
The Ladies medal was an oval shape about one inch tall and was designed to be ensconced inside lockets or other jewelry items. It bore an inscription reading “IN MEMORIAM G W JAN 1799, 1800” and the reverse was left blank. There are six known Ladies Medals today.
Regional Variants
Copper specimens attributed to New Haven and Salem show minor die variations such as adjusted star-point orientation, altered urn handles, or slight inscription spacing shifts.
Provenance Documentation:
- An 1825 Stack’s catalog listed a silver medal from a Boston lodge master linked to Perkins’ dies.
- The American Numismatic Society acquired a gold example in 1899 from Perkins’ descendants.
- A 1902 letter documents a medal loaned to the Boston Athenaeum; its rim bears “BA 1902.”
Legacy and Influence
The Washington Funeral Medal did more than just commemorate a president; it pioneered an American numismatic type. Its influence echoed later presidential tributes, artistic motifs, and the collection’s growth.
Other Presidential Medals
Successive presidential medals for Adams (1826), Jefferson (1827), and Madison (1830) retained Washington’s classical mourning style while evolving in form. Like the skull-inverted star, Masonic symbolism migrated into gravestone iconography and 19th-century memorial art. The inscription “HE IS IN GLORY THE WORLD IN TEARS” endured in funeral sermons and epitaphs through the 1850s, embedding Washington’s image in the national conscience.
The Washington Funeral Medal endures at the intersection of national mourning, fraternal ritual, and early American numismatic practice. Its design reflects an American adaptation of European traditions. More than two centuries after Washington’s death, collectors and institutions continue to regard it as a foundational piece of presidential commemoration and national memory.
