Conjoined busts of Washington and Lafayette appear on the obverse, based on a sculpture of Washington by Jean-Antoine Houdon and a medal of Lafayette by François-Augustin Caunois.
Conjoined busts of Washington and Lafayette appear on the obverse. Barber stated that the bases for his work were a sculpture of Washington by Jean-Antoine Houdon, and an 1824 medal of Lafayette by François-Augustin Caunois.