Item: i112931

Authentic Medal of:

United States of America
Bicentennial – Council of the Thirteen Original States – Francis Hopkinson
1974 Proof Silver Medal 38mm (32.66 grams) Sterling Silver
Reference: Franklin Mint
Francis Hopkinson facing left in government building.
FRANCIS HOPKINSON LAWYER NEW JERSEY, Feather pen and ink well, signature below.
Edge Lettering:
OFFICIAL MEDAL OF THE BICENTENNIAL COUNCIL OF THE 13 ORIGINAL STATES 74 P STERLING

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The Thirteen American Colonies formed the United States of America in July 1776. Their groupings were: New England (New Hampshire; Massachusetts; Rhode Island; Connecticut); Middle (New York; New Jersey; Pennsylvania; Delaware); Southern (Maryland; Virginia; North Carolina; South Carolina; and Georgia).

Francis Hopkinson (October 2, 1737 – May 9, 1791) was an American Founding Father, judge, author and composer. He designed Continental paper money and two early versions of flags, one for the United States and one for the United States Navy. He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence in July 1776 as a delegate from New Jersey.

Hopkinson served in various roles in the early United States government including as a member of the Second Continental Congress and as a member of the Navy Board. He became the first federal judge of the Eastern District Court of Pennsylvania on September 30, 1789.

Born on October 2, 1737 (Gregorian), September 21, 1737 (Julian) in Philadelphia, Province of Pennsylvania, British America, Hopkinson received an Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1757 from the College of Philadelphia (now the University of Pennsylvania) and an Artium Magister degree in 1760 from the same institution. He was the first native American composer of a secular song in 1759. He was secretary of a commission of the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania which made a treaty between the province and certain Indian tribes in 1761. He entered private practice in Philadelphia from 1761 to 1766. He was collector of customs in Salem, Province of New Jersey in 1763. Hopkinson spent from May 1766 to August 1767 in England in hopes of becoming commissioner of customs for North America. ¹³³ Although unsuccessful, he spent time with the future Prime Minister Lord North, Hopkinson’s cousin James Johnson, and the painter Benjamin West.

Upon his return to Philadelphia in 1768, he sold varieties of fabric and port wine. In 1768 he was elected to the revived American Philosophical Society and served as its curator from 1776 to 1782. He was collector of customs for New Castle, Delaware Colony from 1772 to 1773. He resumed private practice in Bordentown from 1773 to 1774. He was a member of the New Jersey Provincial Council from 1774 to 1776. He was a member of the Executive Council of New Jersey in 1775. He was admitted to practice before the bar of the Supreme Court of New Jersey on May 8, 1775. He was elected an associate justice of that court in 1776 but declined the office. He was a delegate to the Second Continental Congress (Continental Congress) from June 21, 1776, to November 18, 1776. He was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. He was the Chairman of the Navy Board in Philadelphia from November 18, 1776, to mid-August 1778. He was treasurer for the Continental Loan Office in Philadelphia from 1778 to 1781. He was judge of the Admiralty Court of Pennsylvania from 1779 to 1789. He was a member of the Pennsylvania Convention which ratified the United States Constitution.

Hopkinson was nominated by President George Washington on September 24, 1789, to the United States District Court for the District of Pennsylvania, to a new seat authorized by 1 Stat. 73. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 26, 1789, and received his commission the same day.

Hopkinson was the son of Thomas Hopkinson and Mary Johnson Hopkinson. He married Ann Borden on September 1, 1768. They had five children. He was the father of Joseph Hopkinson, who was a member of the United States House of Representatives and also became a federal judge. Hopkinson’s sister Mary (1742-1785) was the wife of Dr. John Morgan, surgeon general of the Continental Army.

On May 9, 1791, Hopkinson died in Philadelphia of a sudden apoplectic seizure. He was interred in Christ Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia.

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The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles (9.8 million km²), the United States is the world’s third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe’s 3.9 million square miles (10.1 million km²). With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital’s federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world’s 17 megadiverse countries.

Paleo-Indians migrated from Siberia to the North American mainland at least 12,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century. The United States emerged from the thirteen British colonies established along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the colonies following the French and Indian War led to the American Revolution, which began in 1775, and the subsequent Declaration of Independence in 1776. The war ended in 1783 with the United States becoming the first country to gain independence from a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, with the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, being ratified in 1791 to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. The United States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th century, acquiring new territories, displacing Native American tribes, and gradually admitting new states until it spanned the continent by 1848.

During the second half of the 19th century, the Civil War led to the abolition of slavery. By the end of the century, the United States had extended into the Pacific Ocean, and its economy, driven in large part by the Industrial Revolution, began to soar. The Spanish-American War and World War I confirmed the country’s status as a global military power. The United States emerged from World War II as a global superpower, the first country to develop nuclear weapons, the only country to use them in warfare, and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. The Rights Acts of 1964, 1965 and 1968 outlaws discrimination based on race or color. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union competed in the Space Race, culminating with the 1969 U.S. Moon landing. The end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the world’s sole superpower.

The United States is the world’s oldest surviving federation. It is a federal republic and a representative democracy. The United States is a founding member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States (OAS), and other international organizations. The United States is a highly developed country, with the world’s largest economy by nominal GDP and second-largest economy by PPP, accounting for approximately a quarter of global GDP. The U.S. economy is largely post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge-based activities, although the manufacturing sector remains the second-largest in the world. The United States is the world’s largest importer and the second largest exporter of goods, by value. Although its population is only 4.3% of the world total, the U.S. holds 31% of the total wealth in the world, the largest share of global wealth concentrated in a single country.

Despite wide income and wealth disparities, the United States continues to rank very high in measures of socioeconomic performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP, and worker productivity. The United States is the foremost military power in the world, making up a third of global military spending, and is a leading political, cultural, and scientific force internationally.