Congressional Gold Medal for Dalai Lama, Bronze Duplicates for Public

Today, President Bush honored Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, with the Congressional Gold Medal.

The medal was given in recognition of his many enduring and outstanding contributions to peace, non-violence, human rights, and religious understanding.

President Bush was actually the first US leader to appear publicly with the Dalai Lama. Previous presidents have met with him privately, minimizing friction with China.

China’s attitude toward the Dalai Lama is one of anger, feeling he’s a separatist trying to pull Tibet away from China.

For background, you can view the Reuters video news clip from yesterday. You can also watch the Associated Press video clip of the Congressional Gold Medal ceremony.

New Bronze Medals from the U.S. Mint

In addition to the Congressional Medal, the United States Mint was authorized to produce two bronze duplicates of the medal for sale to the public.

The bronze designs are simple, yet fresh. The obverse or heads side has the image of the Dalai Lama with the Himalayan Mountains of Tibet in the background. There are three inscriptions:

• “TENZIN GYATSO” is inscribed on the upper left just above the mountains
• “14TH DALAI LAMA OF TIBET” adorns the top edge
• and “ACT of CONGRESS 2006” appears to the left of the Dalai Lama’s hands

The reverse or tails side has the image of a lotus flower, which is considered to be a symbol of purity. It has one inscription with a quote from Dalai Lama:

“WORLD PEACE MUST DEVELOP FROM INNER PEACE. PEACE IS NOT THE ABSENCE OF VIOLENCE. PEACE IS THE MANIFESTATION OF HUMAN COMPASSION.”

The following table shows the available bronze duplicates and the US Mint prices:

Using the links, you can order the medals today for immediate shipment. You can also call the US Mint directly at their toll-free number, 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468).