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Medal Name: Fifth President of the United States of America
Struck for: President James Monroe
OBVERSE
JAMES MONROE PRESIDENT OF THE U. S. (United States) A. D. (Anno Domini: The year of our Lord) 1817.
Bust of President Monroe, facing the right.
REVERSE
PEACE AND FRIENDSHIP.
Two hands clasped in token of amity; on the cuff of the left wrist three stripes, and buttons with the American eagle on them; the other wrist bare;
above the hands, a calumet and a tomahawk crossed-Indian emblems of peace and war.
BACKGROUND
James Monroe was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, April 28, 1758. He was educated at William and Mary College, Virginia, served with distinction in the revolutionary war from 1776 to 1778; was member of the Virginia Assembly, 1782; delegate to Congress, 1783-1786; senator of the United States, 1790-1794; minister to France, 1794-1796; governor of Virginia, 1799-1802; was sent on a special mission to France for the acquisition of Louisiana, 1802; was minister to England, 1803-1808; and to Spain, 1805; governor of Virginia, 1810; secretary of State under President Madison, 1811-1817; acting secretary of War, 1814-1815; President of the United States (first term), 1817-1821; (second term), 1821-1825. He died in the city of New York, July 4, 1831, on the fifty-fifth anniversary of the Independence of the United States.
Source: The Medallic History of the United States of America 1776-1876 by J. F. Loubat, LL.D. (1878)