Artist Name

You can click medals to switch between obverse and reverse sides.

• Dance of the Dolphins 1982

  by Don Everhart

  

  SOM-106.1

  Golden bronze with tan patina

  This design by Everhart was chosen as the 106th issue of the prestigious Society of Medalists series.

  Its obverse bears seven leaping dolphins in waves on deeply recessed field. Below, EVERHART"

  The reverse bears Poseidon's trident over crenulate shell; two dolphins with heraldic hindquarters. In center, THE / DANCE / OF THE / DOLPHINS

  Everhart believed that the Dolphin personified the grace and beauty of the sea to the ancients. As he wrote in the brochure accompanying the medal:

  "Perhaps someday we will communicate with the dolphin on a higher level than thought possible. Maybe then we will learn what they obviously already know; that life is to be enjoyed and celebrated, and that we can live in harmony in our environment."

  Nicola Moss, another SOM sculptor, also created a medal featuring dolphins, called Into the Blue, though not as part of the Society of Medalists series.

  The medal measures 73mm in diameter and was produced by the Medallic Art Company of Danbury, Connecticut. Its reported mintage is 750 pieces in bronze.

  SOM-106.1

  Bronze

  73.0mm (2.87in)

  Golden bronze with tan patina

  THE SOCIETY OF MEDALISTS 106TH ISSUE SEPTEMBER 1982 DON EVERHART, SC.(C)

  (C) 1982 MACO-BRONZE

  Last modified: 17 Jul 2015
  Dinosaur 1993

  by Don Everhart

  

  SOM-125.1

  Golden bronze with tan patina

  

  SOM-125.2

  Silver

  This design by Everhart was chosen as the 125th issue of the prestigious Society of Medalists series.

  Its obverse bears a Tyrannosaurus Rex with dragonfly in foreground, tree ferns, volcano, and Triceratops in background; three Pterosaurs flying overhad.

  The reverse shows a fossilized skeleton in rough rock.

  Everhart created a beautiful medal that picked up on the Dinosaur craze that went along with the first Jurassic Park movie. It was deservedly very popular.

  He also had an interesting explanation for his design choice for the medal's two sides. As Everhart explained in the brochure accompanying the medal:

  "A medal offers a creative advantage that is not present in conventional sculpture, in that it can exhibit the fourth dimension - time. The two sides of a medal may show two parts of the same story separated by a few seconds, minutes, or days."

  However, in this case, millions of years separate the obverse from the reverse.

  The medal measures 90mm x 87mm and was produced by the Medallic Art Company of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Its mintage is not reported.

  SOM-125.1

  Bronze

  90.0mm x 87.0mm (3.54in x 3.43in)

  SOM-125.2

  Silver

  90.0mm x 87.0mm (3.54in x 3.43in)

  

  Last modified: 17 Jul 2015
  
  The Fossil Collection 1994

  by Don Everhart

  

  SOM-128A: Deinonychus

  Golden bronze with tan patina

  

  SOM-128B: Pteranodon

  Golden bronze with tan patina

  

  SOM-128C: Styracosaurus

  Golden bronze with tan patina

  

  SOM-128D: Stegosaurus

  Golden bronze with tan patina

  

  SOM-128E: Tyrannosaurus

  Golden bronze with tan patina

  

  SOM-128F: Diplodocus

  Golden bronze with tan patina

  This multi-medal design by Everhart was chosen as the 128th issue of the prestigious Society of Medalists series.

  This was Everhart's third contribution to the SOM series and represented a breach with tradition as well as the rules that had been set up to govern the series. The six medal issue, held in a 14 x 7 inch leather case, was very much a novelty. The fact that Don Everhart was called upon again, just one year after his very successful SOM-125 medal, was a a breach of its own rule that artists were only eligible to return after a 10-year intermission. The fact that the design merely expanded upon Everhart's earlier medal's design, even included a copy that only differed from it in edge lettering, was a clear signal that the Society was coming to an end.

  I have no knowledge of the internal decision processes, but this release, while meritorious in its own right, represented such a departure from the Society's tradtions that it should never have happened. The commercial success of SOM-125 coupled with an organization in trouble might have made it seem imperative to try to repeat a financial coup, but I tend to think that it represented an acknowledgement of its bankruptcy.

  Just to be perfectly clear, the medals by themselves are beautiful and Don Everhart deserves praise for them; the error lies solely with the Society.

  The medals were produced by the Medallic Art Company of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Their mintage is not reported.

  Last modified: 17 Jul 2015