Norse-American medal

The Norse-American medal was struck at the

Philadelphia Mint in 1925, pursuant to an act of the
United States Congress. It was issued for the 100th
anniversary of the voyage of the ship Restauration,
bringing early Norwegian immigrants to the United
States.

Ole Juulson Kvale was a Minnesota congressman of the

Farmer-Labor Party,[6] and a proud Norse-American.
Kvale was a member of the Norse-American Centennial Commission, which was to organize a 100th anniversary celebration of the Restauration's voyage.[7] This celebration was important to a Norse-American community
that had been perceived as antiwar during World War
I, and was attempting to display both ethnic pride and
assimilation.[8] Kvale, a Lutheran minister, was also a
member of the House Committee on Coinage, Weights,
and Measures,[9] and in January 1925 approached the
Treasury Department, seeking its support for a commemorative coin in honor of the anniversary. He was told
that the Treasury would oppose it.[10] Commemorative
coins for ethnic heritage groups were unlikely to pass
Congress at that time due to the controversy caused by the
1924 Huguenot-Walloon Tercentenary half dollar, seen
by some as Protestant propaganda.[11]

Minnesota Congressman Ole Juulson Kvale, a NorseAmerican, wanted a commemorative for the centennial
celebrations of the Restauration journey. Rebued by the
Treasury Department when he sought the issuance of a
special coin, he instead settled for a medal. Sculpted by
Bualo nickel designer James Earle Fraser, the medals
recognize those immigrants Viking heritage, depicting a
warrior on the obverse and a vessel on the reverse. They
also recall the early Viking explorations of North America.
Once authorized by Congress, they were produced in various metals and sizes, for the most part prior to the celebrations near Minneapolis in June 1925. Only 53 were
issued in gold, and they are rare and valuable today; those
struck in silver or bronze have appreciated much less in
value. They are sometimes collected as part of the U.S.
commemorative coin series.

On February 3, 1925, Kvale and his son Paul met with

Treasury ocials, bringing a draft bill authorizing the
Bureau of the Mint to strike commemorative medals
for the anniversary. Acting Mint Director Mary M.
O'Reilly and Treasury Undersecretary Garrad Winston
were dubious about the idea of striking silver medals
that would be between the quarter and half dollar in
size. Paul Kvale suggested making the medal octagonal or hexagonal. O'Reilly and Winston favored the
idea, and, after Congressman Kvale met with legal counsel to the Treasury and with other ocials, he was assured of the departments full support.[7] Kvale also successfully lobbied the Post Oce Department for the issuance of commemorative stamps; he told Third Assistant Postmaster General Warren I. Glover that, in a
broader sense, the medal recognized the North American explorations of the Vikings around the year 1000.[12]
Kvale declared that in seeking the souvenir medal and
stamps, he was contributing to the growth of the Norwegian heritage by having it 'preserved in metal' as well
as 'paper time capsules.[11]

Background and inception

On July 4 or 5, 1825, the vessel Restauration sailed from

Stavanger, Norway, for the United States, with 45 emigrants aboard.[2] According to what The New York Times
deemed "bacchanalian" legends of its passage, the expedition anchored o an English seacoast village and traded
ashore some of its rum, only to depart in haste when local ocials took an interest.[3] O Madeira, expedition
leader Lars Larsen is said to have shed a cask from the
sea, which proved to be lled with rare wine that was thoroughly enjoyed by those aboard.[3] After they arrived in
New York on October 9, 1825, the ship was seized pursuant to a court order, as the passengers exceeded the permitted number for a ship of its size by 21, counting a baby
girl born to the Larsens en route. In addition, a ne was to
be imposed, but because the immigrants spoke no English
and had no knowledge of American laws, President John
Quincy Adams issued a pardon, releasing the ship and remitting the ne.[4] Initially settling on land they purchased
near the shore of Lake Ontario, about 35 miles (56 km)
from Rochester, New York, the passengers were the rst
of many Norse-Americans who crossed the Atlantic, especially to the northern and western United States.[3][5]

2 Legislation
Kvale introduced a bill for a Norse-American medal in
the House of Representatives on February 4, 1925.[6]
It was referred to the Committee on Coinage, Weights,
and Measures.[13] On behalf of that committee, Kvale reported it favorably to the full House on February 10. In
the report, Kvale stated that the 40,000 medals would be
1

2
struck without expense to the government, and that Treasury ocials supported the bill. In view of the importance of this celebration to the many descendants of the
Norse immigrants into this country, and through these to
the State of Minnesota, which is ocially sponsoring the
event, and to the great Northwest, which they have been
such a large factor in developing, the committee believes
that such a medal is tting and proper and that this bill
should be enacted into law.[14]
South Dakota Senator Peter Norbeck also introduced
legislation for a Norse-American medal on February 5,
1925. It was referred to the Committee on the Library.
On the 6th, that committee was discharged of responsibility for the bill and it was referred instead to the
Committee on Banking and Currency. Norbeck, on behalf of the Banking Committee, reported the bill favorably and without amendment to the Senate on February
13.[15] It was passed by the Senate without objection or
amendment on the 18th.[16]

DESIGN

tain in Georgia (he would later sculpt Mount Rushmore),

had designed the Stone Mountain Memorial half dollar;
he had no time to accept the work. Bualo nickel designer James Earle Fraser, a member of the Commission
of Fine Arts, was engaged for a fee of $1,500, about the
usual for a commemorative coin.[22]
Fraser prepared designs and submitted them to the Mint;
O'Reilly sent them to the Commission of Fine Arts on
April 14, 1925. The commission approved them; its
only suggestion was that the rst the be removed from
the inscription on the reverse, "AUTHORIZED BY THE
CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA",
and this was done.[23] Sketches had been printed in the
Minneapolis Journal on March 29, provoking some reaction from those who felt that the design implied that
Norwegians still dressed like Vikings in 1825, and that
the date, 1000, should be moved from reverse to obverse
to eliminate the confusion. The public objections had no
eect on events.[22]

The Senate-passed bill then was transmitted to the House

of Representatives, and was referred to the Coinage Committee on February 20.[17] It was brought forward on 4 Design
February 27, 1925. When the Speaker, Frederick H.
Gillett, asked if there was objection to the considera- Norse-American postal issue, 1925
tion of the bill, Ohios James T. Begg wanted to know
if there was anyone present who could give him information about it, and if there was not, he would object.
Kvale stated that he could, and when Begg inquired if
Treasury Secretary Andrew W. Mellon favored the bill,
he assured the Ohioan that this was so. Kvale had the
Senate-passed bill substituted for the one he had introduced, and it received the Houses endorsement without
objection or amendment.[18] It was passed into law with
the signature of President Calvin Coolidge on March 2,
1925.[6]
The act provided for a maximum of 40,000 medals, to be
struck at the Philadelphia Mint, from design models prepared by the Norse-American Centennial Commission.
Medals would be turned over to a designated agent of
the commission on payment of the cost of making them.
They were to be made subject to the provisions of section
52 of the Coinage Act of 1873.[19] That section permitted
medals of a national character to be struck at the Philadelphia Mint, but forbade Mint personnel from making dies
for private medals,[20] and was enacted after Philadelphia
Mint Chief Coiner Franklin Peale had for some years run
a private medals business on Mint premises, prior to his
ring in 1854.[21]

for the anniversary, the two-cent depicts the Restauration

and the ve-cent a Viking vessel.

The obverse of the medal shows a Norwegian Viking

chieftain who has just come ashore from his ship (seen
behind him) and is armed for war, with horned helmet,
shield, sword, and svard (dagger). He is intended to be
landing at Vinland, the lands in the Americas explored
and to some extent settled by the Vikings about the year
1000. The helmet is most likely an anachronism, as they
are not believed to have been used for two millennia prior
to the Vinland landing, and were probably ceremonial,
rather than intended for battle. The centennial and the
years are recognized on the obverse. The reverse shows
a Viking ship, along with the authorization by Congress
and the approximate year in which Vinland was settled.
3 Preparation
OPUS FRASER (Frasers work), the artists signature, is
[5]
Kvale hoped that his friend and fellow Minnesotan, Sen- to the left of the ship.
ator Henrik Shipstead, could persuade sculptor Gutzon Numismatist Anthony Swiatek, in his volume on comBorglum to design the medal for no fee or a nominal one. memoratives, wonders if Leif Erikson, the famed exBorglum, who was busy with construction at Stone Moun- plorer of that period, would not have been a superior

3
choice. He concludes that Kvale would not have supported such a depiction, because he was interested in
pure romanticization. He saw a Viking ship and his chieftain in full regalia.[5]
Julie Shultz, in her journal article on the 1925 celebration, nds it signicant that the medal has nothing to do
with the arrival of the Restauration in an already-formed
United States, but symbolizes ethnic pride in the early explorers. Noting that one of the stamps depicts a Viking
ship and the other the Restauration, she concludes of these
three government issues for the celebration: Though outwardly, these souvenirs were to symbolize the Norwegian
immigrant heritage that began in 1825, they actually invert the dominant narrative by using an American form
to proclaim that Norwegians were the rst Europeans to
land on American soil.[24]

Production, distribution,
collecting

and

Six thousand silver medals on a thin (1.6 mm) planchet

were struck between May 21 and 23, 1925, at the
Philadelphia Mint. They were handled like ordinary
coins: they were counted, bagged, and transported to the
Fourth Street National Bank of Philadelphia for the centennial commissions use. Between May 29 and June 13,
a total of 33,750 pieces were struck on a thick (2 mm)
silver planchet. The reason for the two varieties is uncertain; Swiatek theorizes that the Norse-American Centennial Commission might not have liked how the thin
ones looked, or might have wanted collectors to buy two
medals. One hundred were struck in gold, on June 3 and
4Kvale received the second one struck. The medals
cost the commission 30 cents each for the thin ones, 45
cents for the thick, and $10.14 for the gold. The retail price of the thin ones is uncertain (Swiatek estimates
$1.75), the thick ones are known to have cost $1.25, and
the gold pieces about $20. They were sold by mail order;
none were sold at the celebrations or in person. There
was a sales limit of one per person, but purchasers could
buy on behalf of as many family members as they wanted.
The thin pieces were not oered for sale until November
or December 1925, and sold mostly to numismatiststhe
commissions secretary, J.A. Horvik, was frustrated that
more Norsemen were not buying the medal.[25] After
the celebrations, Kvale took 5,000 medals to New York,
hoping to sell them, but was not successful.[26] Of the
100 gold pieces struck, 47 were eventually returned to
the Treasury when they could not be sold, and some of
the silver pieces (most likely thick ones) were as well.[25]
The Norse-American Immigration Centennial Celebration was held at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds near
Minneapolis from June 69, 1925. Automobile caravans were organized to bring attendees from the Red
River Valley, bearing the slogan, The Norsemen are

Coming!"[3] President Coolidge was present; he called

the Viking explorers these sons of Thor and Odin,
and told attendees, the pledge of the Norwegian people
has never yet gone unredeemed. I have every faith that
through the vigorous performance of your duties you will
add new lustre to your glories in the days to come.[27]
The New York Times noted that commemorative stamps
and a congressionally authorized medal had been issued
for the celebration. Seldom before has the celebration
of a similar event been so honored by the Government,
as has this centennial.[27]
The Times had inaccurately described the medal as the
rst commemorative medal to be issued in the history of
the mint.[3][28] The publicity people for the celebration
had billed it as the rst medal to be issued pursuant to
an act of Congress, but in October 1925, Mint Director
Robert J. Grant learned that a medal had been authorized
by Congress for the centennial of American independence in 1876, and it had been issued in dierent sizes.
He informed Kvale, who was intrigued by the fact that the
independence medal had been issued in a 3-inch (76 mm)
size. The congressman felt that the larger size would allow
the detail of his medal to be better shown, which would
help when one was exhibited in a museum display case.
Not all members of his board were enthusiastic about the
idea, but between 60 and 75 of these larger medals were
struck, likely in December at the Philadelphia Mint, with
Kvale undertaking to purchase any that were not sold.
They were plated in silver by a private rm in Washington, D.C., and about 30 were presented or mailed to dignitaries, including one to President Coolidge.[28]
The Norse-American medal is not a coin, and is not legal
tender. Due to its similarity to a coin, and the fact that
it was authorized by Congress, it is sometimes collected
as part of the U.S. commemorative coin series. Though
the silver ones can be purchased for less than $100 up
to $500, and the silver-plated one for between $500 and
$3,500, the gold specimen has sold for as high as $40,000.
Some medals were used as pocket pieces or worn in
mountings to the fair, and display damage or wear.[29]

6 References
[1] Swiatek, pp. 168169.
[2] Blegen, pp. 599601.
[3] First Norse Settlers Arrived 100 Years Ago. The New
York Times. April 12, 1925.(subscription required)
[4] Blegen, pp. 601, 613618.
[5] Swiatek, p. 168.
[6] 68 Bill Prole H.R. 12160 (19231925)". ProQuest
Congressional. Retrieved September 3, 2015.(subscription required)
[7] Swiatek, p. 165.

7 SOURCES

[8] Shultz, pp. 1265, 1267.

[9] Kvale, Ole Juulson (18691929)".
United States
Congress. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
[10] House hearings, pp. 34.
[11] Shultz, p. 1287.
[12] Swiatek, p. 173.
[13] 1925 Congressional Record, Vol. 71, Page 3030 (February
4, 1925)(subscription required)
[14] House Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures
(February 10, 1925). Coinage of a Medal with Appropriate Emblems Commemorative of the Norse-American
Centennial.(subscription required)
[15] S. 4230, Calendar No. 1176. United States Government Printing Oce. February 13, 1925.(subscription required)
[16] 1925 Congressional Record, Vol. 71, Page 4061 (February
18, 1925)(subscription required)
[17] 1925 Congressional Record, Vol. 71, Page 4277 (February
20, 1925)(subscription required)
[18] 1925 Congressional Record, Vol. 71, Page 48734874
(February 27, 1925)(subscription required)
[19] Pub.L. 68524
[20] Pub.L. 42131(third session)
[21] Taxay, pp. 188190.
[22] Swiatek, p. 166.
[23] Swiatek, p. 167.
[24] Shultz, p. 1288.
[25] Swiatek, pp. 166171.
[26] Schmidt, David (December 2012). Norwegian heritage:
Pieces commemorated immigrant ships arrival in the
United States. The Numismatist. American Numismatic
Association: 23. (subscription required (help)).
[27] City to Celebrate Norse Centennial. The New York
Times. September 13, 1925.(subscription required)
[28] Swiatek, pp. 169170.
[29] Swiatek, p. 171.

Sources
Blegen, Theodore C. (1940). Norwegian Migration to America: The American Transition. Haskell
House Publishers Ltd. OCLC 423581.

Shultz, April (March 1991). "'The Pride of the Race

Had Been Touched': The 1925 Norse-American
Immigration Centennial and Ethnic Identity. Journal of American History. 77 (4): 12651295.
ISSN 0021-8723. JSTOR 2078262.(subscription
required)
Swiatek, Anthony (2012). Encyclopedia of the Commemorative Coins of the United States. Chicago:
KWS Publishers. ISBN 978-0-9817736-7-4.
Taxay, Don (1983). The U.S. Mint and Coinage
(reprint of 1966 ed.). New York: Sanford J. Durst
Numismatic Publications. ISBN 978-0-915262-687.
United States House of Representatives Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures (January
23, 1928). Coinage of 50-Cent Pieces in Commemoration of Sesquicentennial of Discovery of
Hawaii. United States Government Printing Ofce.(subscription required)

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