The Numismatist
Vol. XII, No. 1, January 1908
GOLD MEDALS FOR THE GREAT AVIATORS.
Wright Brothers Honored by Aero Club of America. Presentation by President Taft. Designed by Victor D. Brenner.
THE WRIGHT BROTHERS will be honored on June 10, at Washington, for their great achievements in aerial navigation. Each will receive a gold medal costing $1,000 each, a gift by public subscription, fostered by the Aero Club of America. The presentation will be made by President Taft. The medals were designed by Sculptor Victor D. Brenner and add one more to the many masterful products of this great artist. They were struck at the Philadelphia mint.
The medals are about two and one-half inches in diameter, and bear on the obverse portraits of Orville and Wilbur Wright, with their names and the date and place of their most successful individual flights. That of Orville being at Fort Myer, Va., September 9, 1908, a continuous flight during 62 minutes and 15 seconds, this a world's record, was exceeded by Wilbur in his great flight at Le Mans, France, September 21, 1908, lasting 91 minutes and 51 seconds during which he covered a distance of nearly sixty-one miles. AERO CLUB OF AMERICA in semi-circle at top.
The reverse shows one of the Wright's airships in space, the seal of the Aero Club appears at bottom. It is expected that there will be a limited distribution of copies of the medals in bronze. The Wright Brothers are receiving many medals. One has been awarded by Congress. During their stop in England, while enroute to this country from France, they were presented on May 3, with the gold medal of the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain, the first gold medal to be presented by the society, which has existed since 1866. This medal is inscribed: “Presented to Wilbur and Orville Wright, in recognition of their distinguished services to aeronautical science.” The obverse side of the medal bears an illustration of a flying eagle and a balloon.
Gold Medals for Great Aviators, The Numismatist, Vol. XII, No. 1, January 1908, page 134. (PDF)