Images(2)

1798 Calendar Medal

Date1798

OriginAmerica

MediumPewter

DimensionsDiameter: 38mm Weight: 324.3 grains

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, Lasser Numismatics Fund

Object number2016-140

DescriptionObverse: "1798 A - CALENDAR" over a square, table-form annual calendar listing the year's Sundays. In the spaces between the edges and the calendar are the dates of various religious holidays like Easter and Whitsunday.

Reverse: "Am . Indep. July 4" over a square, table-form lunar calendar. In the spaces between the edges and the calendar are the dates of celestial events like the solstices and equinoxes.
Label TextBudgeting one's time and planning for the future were as important to early Americans as they are today. While an electronic "app" keeps and displays one's current diary today, the 18th century person often relied on a much simpler pocket device; the handy calendar medal. Produced inexpensively and in large numbers every year, many survive bearing dates spanning the 18th century. Most encountered are British, and struck in brass. Standing in stark contrast is this example, struck in pewter, and believed to be of American manufacture. While British ones almost always include the date of the monarch's birthday, this medal highlights American Independence Day, the 4th of July 1776.