Botetourt Medal

Botetourt Medal
Obverse (1772)
Awarded for	Academic achievement
Sponsored by	Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt (1770) Norborne Berkeley (1941)
Location	Williamsburg, Virginia
Country	United States
Presented by	College of William & Mary
Eligibility	William & Mary undergraduate students
Obverse	George III
Reverse	Chartering of the College of William & Mary
Motto	Quæsitvm Meritis (Latin, transl. Sought for his merits)
Established	1770
First award	August 15, 1772 (1772-08-15)
Reverse (1772)

The Botetourt Medal is an academic award annually presented by the College of William & Mary to the most academically distinguished undergraduate student at the college. The award's namesake, Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt, then the colonial governor of Virginia, first announced the medal in 1770 as an award to two students each year. It was first awarded from 1772 until the American Revolution ended the practice in 1775. It was revived as the Lord Botetourt Medal in 1941 through an endowment by Norborne Berkely, who was named for and a descendant of the colonial governor. It has been awarded annually on Commencement Day in May.

The medal was the second academic prize medal in what is now the United States, and the first such award to be struck. The dies used for these medals were engraved by Thomas Pingo, an engraver at the Royal Mint. The observe depicts King George III, with the reverse depicting James Blair receiving the college's charter from King William III and Queen Mary II in 1693. Of the eight gold Botetourt Medals awarded through 1775, at least three survive, as do examples in copper and silver. Unusually, the original dies survive and are possibly the oldest dies in the United States.

When the award was revived in 1941, the Medallic Art Company copied the original dies and produced silver, gold-filled, and matte yellow bronze medals for the college. The gold-filled medals, featuring an altered rim design, are those presently awarded.