On May 7, 1915, the passenger liner Lusitania was sunk by German submarine U-20 in British waters. Of the passengers, 1,198 drowned, including many women and children and 124 U.S. citizens. This event led to increased willingness by Americans to enter the war.
In August 1915, German artist Karl Goetz cast a commemorative medal depicting the May 7, 1915 sinking of the Lusitania. It was the May 5 date on the medal that verified to the British that the Germans pre-meditated the sinking, a cowardly act. In fact, artist Goetz simply got the date wrong from using an erroneous newspaper report. About 430 medals of the first version with the May 5 date were minted in Goetz's home. He soon corrected the date to May 7.
The British quickly utilized the first German version as propaganda. British Naval Intelligence ordered about 250,000 copies struck with the May 5 date and sold them through the Lusitania Souvenir Medal Committee to the public at one shilling each. The British-produced medal was presented in an attractive box with an explanatory certificate. The British-produced medals were made of iron and a darker color than the German originals.
