1893, United States. Large Bronze "Columbian World's Fair" Medal. NGC MS-64 BN!

Mint Year: 1893
Reference: Eglit 37.
Medallists: N. Feistrup, F. Schmaelfeld, and V. Christesen.
Condition: Certified and graded by NGC as MS-64 BN! - Population 4/1!
Denomination: Medal - Columbian World´s Fair Exposition, Chicago 1893. - Also known as "The Denmark Medal" due to the danish medallists involved!
Diameter: 64mm
Material: Bronze 
Weight: 104gm

Obverse: Radiant astar above female allegoric figure (Provindence) standing left, which points to West and holds the right hand of Christopher Columbus who steers the ship by holding the tiller with his left hand. Sea and clouds in background, compass-like decoration on outer border, split by anniversary dates and place of the first landing in the New World (Guanahani Island, Bahamas, 12th October 1942) and of the Exposition (Chicago, 21st October, 1892).
Legend: CHICAGO / N / 212. OCTOBER. 1892. / E / GUANAHANI / S / 12. OCTOBR. 1492. / W

Reverse: American eagle with spread wings and US coat-of-arms at chest, holding inscribed banner in beak and  olive-branch and three arrows in claws, perched on garlanded table with inscription in Italian. Perspective view of the exposition grounds below.
Legend: ESPOSIZIONE UNIVERSALE CHICAGO 1893 IN MEMORIA DELE ILLUSTRE NAVIGATORE CRISTOFORO COLOMBO. / M.FRISTUR. INV. F.SCHMAELFELD. SC. - V. CHRISTENSEN

Christopher Columbus (c. 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was a navigator, colonizer, and explorer from Genoa, Italy, whose voyages across the Atlantic Ocean led to general European awareness of the American continents in the Western Hemisphere. With his four voyages of exploration and several attempts at establishing a settlement on the island of Hispaniola, all funded by Isabella I of Castile, he initiated the process of Spanish colonization which foreshadowed general European colonization of the "New World".

Although not the first to reach the Americas from Europe—he was preceded by at least one other group, the Norse, led by Leif Ericson, who built a temporary settlement 500 years earlier at L'Anse aux Meadows — Columbus initiated widespread contact between Europeans and indigenous Americans.

The term "pre-Columbian" is usually used to refer to the peoples and cultures of the Americas before the arrival of Columbus and his European successors.

The name Christopher Columbus is the Anglicisation of the Latin Christophorus Columbus. The original name in 15th century Genoese language was Christoffa Corombo, although the Italian language version of the name is Cristoforo Colombo.

Columbus's initial 1492 voyage came at a critical time of emerging modern western imperialism and economic competition between developing kingdoms seeking wealth from the establishment of trade routes and colonies. In this sociopolitical climate, Columbus's far-fetched scheme won the attention of Isabella I of Castile. Severely underestimating the circumference of the Earth, he estimated that a westward route from Iberia to the Indies would be shorter than the overland trade route through Arabia. If true, this would allow Spain entry into the lucrative spice trade — heretofore commanded by the Arabs and Italians. Following his plotted course, he instead landed within the Bahamas Archipelago at a locale he named San Salvador. Mistaking the lands he encountered for Asia, he referred to the inhabitants as "indios" (Spanish for "Indians").

The anniversary of Columbus's 1492 landing in the Americas is usually observed as Columbus Day on 12 October in Spain and throughout the Americas, except Canada. In the United States it is observed annually on the second Monday in October.

The World's Columbian Exposition (the official shortened name for the World's Fair: Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, held in Jackson Park, was a large water pool representing the voyage Columbus took to the New World. Chicago had won the right to host the fair over several other cities, including New York City, Washington, D.C., and St. Louis. The exposition was an influential social and cultural event and had a profound effect on American architecture, the arts, American industrial optimism, and Chicago's image.

The layout of the Chicago Columbian Exposition was, in large part, designed by John Wellborn Root, Daniel Burnham, Frederick Law Olmsted and Charles B. Atwood. It was the prototype of what Burnham and his colleagues thought a city should be. It was designed to follow Beaux-Arts principles of design, namely neoclassical architecture principles based on symmetry, balance, and splendor. The color of the material generally used to cover the buildings' façades (white staff) gave the fairgrounds its nickname, the White City. Many prominent architects designed its 14 "great buildings". Artists and musicians were featured in exhibits and many also made depictions and works of art inspired by the exposition.

The exposition covered 690 acres (2.8 km2), featuring nearly 200 new (but deliberately temporary) buildings of predominantly neoclassical architecture, canals and lagoons, and people and cultures from 46 countries. More than 27 million people attended the exposition during its six-month run. Its scale and grandeur far exceeded the other world's fairs, and it became a symbol of the emerging American Exceptionalism, much in the same way that the Great Exhibition became a symbol of the Victorian era United Kingdom.

Dedication ceremonies for the fair were held on October 21, 1892, but the fairgrounds were not actually opened to the public until May 1, 1893. The fair continued until October 30, 1893. In addition to recognizing the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the New World by Europeans, the fair also served to show the world that Chicago had risen from the ashes of the Great Chicago Fire, which had destroyed much of the city in 1871.

On October 9, 1893, the day designated as Chicago Day, the fair set a world record for outdoor event attendance, drawing 751,026 people. The debt for the fair was soon paid off with a check for $1.5 million (equivalent to $45.2 million in 2021). Chicago has commemorated the fair with one of the stars on its municipal flag.