Congressional Medal to Cyrus W. Field for the Successful Laying of the
A round gold medal with raised lettering that reads as a congressional resolution of March 1862 honoring Cyrus W. Field of New York for establishing telegraphic communication by means of the Atlantic Telegraph. A shield and a cluster of stars sit on the upper right, while a globe wrapped in laurel and a ribbon fills the lower center. The beaded border and crisp relief give the piece a formal, ceremonial finish.
Look closer: Small raised stars and a shield at the upper right form a separate emblem beside the text.
- Artist
- William Barber
- Date
- 1868
- Medium
- Copper and gold leaf
- Source
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Size
- 3663 × 3465 px
Public domain · The Metropolitan Museum of Art releases this image under CC0 (latest date 1868).
Rights checked 2026-11-05 · tier A · as stated by the source: CC0 (The Met Open Access, isPublicDomain=true)
Rights checked 2026-11-05 · tier A · as stated by the source: CC0 (The Met Open Access, isPublicDomain=true)
Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Cyrus W. Field, 1892