aking the following: Washington--Boston, 1776; Colonel
Howard--Cowpens, 1781; General Greene, 1781: Alliance with
France, 1777-1781[113]; Colonel Washington--Cowpens, 1781.

The dies for the Indian Medals, bearing the heads of the
successive Presidents, have heretofore been cut by artists in
this country; the earlier ones by Reich, the later by Fuerst. One
of these is dead, and the other in Europe.

I now propose, with your approbation, to pursue a different
course, and to dispense entirely with the services of the die
sinker. For this purpose, a medallion likeness of the President
must be modeled in wax or clay, on a table of four inches in
diameter, and I understand that an artist at Washington, named
Chapman, is competent to this work. A plaster cast from this
model is used as a pattern for a casting in fine iron, which can
be executed by Babbit at Boston, as well as at the celebrated
foundries at Berlin. This casting is then placed in an instrument
called a _portrait lathe_ (of which we have a very perfect one at
the Mint, which I caused to be made at Paris), and reduced
fac-similes of it are turned by the lathe, thus preparing for us
the dies which we need.

The advantages offered by this mode of operating are manifest. A
model made on a large scale in relief, and in plastic material,
can hardly fail to be more perfect than a head sunk originally on
a die of steel. I accordingly anticipate from this process a more
perfect set of dies, than any we have yet made. But it is not an
untried experiment which I propose to make. I send you herewith,
a medal of Franklin executed by us here, entirely by this process.
The original was a medallion likeness of Franklin in burnt (p. 278)
clay. All the rest was a purely mechanical operation, (the work
being, in fact, done by a steam engine), except a little
retouching, and the impression of the letters.

The proposed method presents the advantage of greater economy.
The last Indian Medal dies, which were the cheapest we have had
made, cost $1,160; Mr. Peale, our chief coiner, is willing to
undertake the execution of those for President Tyler, for $800.

The Medals for President Van Buren were begun, and in fact
completed, in anticipation of the necessary appropriation by
Congress, and I wou