Up for sale is an incredibly rare, museum-quality piece of early American aviation history: an original 1911 commemorative bronze medal and its matching presentation box from the First Annual Dinner of the Aeronautical Society. Held at the historic Hotel Astor in New York City on April 27, 1911, this banquet gathered the absolute pioneers of early flight. Finding both the delicate pasteboard banquet box and heavy bronze medal intact together after over 115 years is an exceptional rarity.The Medal is solid bronze and features the striking, early official emblem of The Aeronautical Society-a pair of outstretched aviation wings intersected by a vertical, two-blade propeller. The edge is uniquely styled with a scalloped, wavy border designed to resemble a traditional wax document seal. The top features an integrated suspension loop, originally intended to be worn as a watch fob or formal ribbon pendant. The presentation box is in good historical condition. Structurally sound with tight corners. Shows honest, light surface handling, minor foxing and age-related shelf wear as expected for paper ephemera of this vintage. Inner cotton padding remains intact. Founded in New York in 1908, The Aeronautical Society (later the Aeronautical Society of America) was the first practical aerodynamic research organization in the United States, predating the NACA (later NASA) Its early meetings and banquets were attended by the titans of early aviation, including the Wright Brothers, Glen Curtiss, and Louis Bleriot. Banquet favors from this specific 1911 event were produced in very limited quantities solely for the attendees of the dinner, making this and elite addition to any advanced aviation, numismatic, or early New York history collection.
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