So while the current Franklin Institute building was built in the 1930’s, most people wouldn’t believe that the institute itself was actually founded nearly 200 years ago in 1824. I managed to acquire this interesting medal that includes FI’s original tagline of “To Promote the Mechanical Arts”.
I actually reached out to FI on this one in case anyone there knows what it really dates to. I have my doubts it’s actually from 1824, but the wear on it has me second guessing myself now. I’m guessing it was a souvenir from around the 30s to 50s but it would be really cool if it really dated back that far!
It’s hard to tell from the photos since I zoomed in, but the actual piece is about the size of a US Quarter. If anyone knows anything about this, please feel free to let me know in the comments (if you don’t see the comments below, click the title of the article to open the actual article first).
Anyway…enjoy what could possibly be the oldest piece of Franklin Institute ephemera yet…
