Benjamin West Medal Commemorating Those Who Subscribed to Purchase the Painting "Christ Healing the Sick in the Temple" [obverse], 1815

[1] Benjamin West was commissioned by the Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia to produce a work for the first hospital in the United States, and in 1811 he completed Christ Healing the Sick in the Temple. Exhibited first in England, where West lived and worked, the painting proved so popular that the artist was pressured into selling it for what at the time was the greatest amount paid for a modern work. West was so flattered by the interest in the painting that he had this medal struck for each of the subscribers that supported the purchase, and he painted a second version of the painting that arrived in Philadelphia in 1817.

Dr. Toner was a prominent physician, medical historian, and collector of the writings of George Washington. In the same year he donated this medal to the Corcoran, Dr. Toner donated to the Library of Congress more than 28,000 books, 12,000 pamphlets and periodicals, and his own large collection of manuscripts that he continued to augment until his death.