The Museum Of UnCut Funk continues to add bronze medals featuring Black Icons to our Gold, Silver and Bronze Coin, Medal and Medallion Collection. We hope you dig the latest installment from the US Mint.
A Congressional Gold Medal was posthumously awarded to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King to commemorate their contributions to the Nation on behalf of the Civil Rights Movement. We have added the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King replica Commemorative Bronze Medal to our collection.
This Congressional Gold Medal had originally been authorized under Public Law 108-368, enacted on October 25, 2004. The act had specified that the Congressional Gold Medal should be awarded on behalf of the Congress to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King in recognition of their contributions to the Nation on behalf of the Civil Rights Movement.
After Coretta Scott King passed away on January 30, 2006, separate legislation had to be passed to allow the medal to be given to the Smithsonian Institution, where it will be made available for display and research. The medal was ultimately presented to Lonnie Bunch, founding director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, by President Obama.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the recipient of many other honors, including the Nobel Peace Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The Congressional Gold Medal and Presidential Medal of Freedom are two of the highest honors that a civilian can receive from the US Government. Dr. King’s contributions are also commemorated by the Civil Rights Act Of 1964 Silver Dollar Coin. Dr. King was featured on the $100.00 Series I savings bond. Dr. King was also honored on two United States postage stamps. His 1963 March On Washington and I Have A Dream speech were also honored on United States postage stamps. Dr. King will be included on the back of the redesigned $5.00 bill along with Marian Anderson in 2020.
The obverse design of the medal features portraits of Dr. King and Coretta Scott King. Their names appear inscribed above, along with “Act of Congress 2004″. A banner at the base carries the inscription “For Their Service to Humanity”.
The reverse design features the image of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. Below the image is a quote from Dr. King reflecting his beliefs of nonviolent social change. The lower half of the medal is encircled by a laurel wreath. The quote reads: “I suggest that the philosophy and strategy of nonviolence become immediately a subject for study for serious experimentation in every field of human conflict, by no means excluding the relations between nations. This may well be mankind’s last chance to choose between chaos and community.”
You can learn more about commemorative currency in our Coins, Medals and Medallions collection and our For The Love Of Money: Blacks On US Currency Exhibition.
Source: The US Mint
