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During the American Revolution, John Andre was a British Major and the head of the British Secret Service in America. By September of 1780, Andre had been conspiring for some time with American General Benedict Arnold, who was the commander of West Point, to have Arnold surrender the fort and defect to the British in exchange for 20,000 British Pounds. On September 20, 1780, Andre sailed up the Hudson on the British warship Vulture to meet with Arnold and finalize the plans for how the British would take the fort. On September 21, the two men met in the woods below Stony Point to go over their plans. Meanwhile, the Vulture had been spotted in the Hudson and was under fire by two American Patriots. Andre and Arnold’s meeting lasted well into the night, and by morning the Vulture had sustained damage from cannon fire and was forced to flee downriver leaving Andre stranded on shore. To enable Andre’s escape through Continental lines, Arnold provided civilian clothes and papers allowing him to travel under a false name. Arnold also provided Andre with six pages, written in his own hand, that showed the British exactly how to take West Point. Andre rode south toward New York City unimpeded until the morning of September 23 when he came upon American militiamen John Paulding, Isaac Van Wart and David Williams near Tarrytown, NY. Andre’s answers to the militiamen’s questions aroused their suspicions, causing them to search him. Arnold’s hand written pages were found hidden in Andre’s stocking at which time Andre tired to bribe them with his horse and watch if they would let him go. The militiamen refused Andre’s bribe and took him prisoner. Benedict Arnold was able to defect to the British before Andre was caught and anyone knew of his treason. John Andre was found guilty as a spy on September 29, 1780 and sentenced to death. He was hung at Tappan, NY on October 2, 1780 after the British refused to surrender Arnold for Andre in a prisoner exchange. This medal commemorates the centennial of the capture of Andre by Paulding, Van Wart and Williams. It is made of bronze and has a great strike. Its color is a beautiful chocolate brown. It was not included in the HK reference book, but is shown on John Raymond’s web site as Unlisted So-Called Dollar #274 and it is considered rare. NGC has graded this medal NMS-66, but unfortunately, there is no population data listed in their census for this medal so I have no idea how many they may have graded or if any have been graded higher.