Coins and Historical Medals

United States of America, Eugene Ormandy, 1980, an unsigned silver award medal for Distinguished Service, named (Eugene Ormandy, May 3, 1980), 62.46g, 51mm. A few trifling marks, otherwise extremely fine, brilliant, very rare £100-£150

Eugene Ormandy (1899-1985) was one of the foremost and most highly regarded orchestral conductors of the twentieth century. Ormandy conducted the Philidelphia Orchestra for an unprecedented 44 years, his tenure as chief conductor and then laureate being the longest unbroken association between conductor and major American orchestra. Ormandy retired from full-time music-making in 1980, and became conductor emeritus. Appropriately, his last concert was with the Philidelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall on the 10th January. The current medal was given to Ormandy at a special ceremony at New York on the 5th May 1980, following his retirement.