The medal depicts the head and shoulders of Franklin in profile facing left. His head is bare, his hair hangs to the shoulders. Around the edge is the inscription BENJ. FRANKLIN NATUS BOSTON XVII JAN./MDCCVI. On the reverse is the "Genius of Liberty" in the form of a winged, nude male youth. A flame burns above his head; his right arm is extended toward a distant tempietto; on the ground at his left side is a crown and a broken scepter. Beneath the image is the signature SCULPSIT ET DICAVIT / AUG. DUPRÉ ANNO / MDCCLXXXIV. Around the edge is the epigram from Turgot, the French Minister of Finance, that appears frequently in Latin, French, or English as a caption associated with images of Franklin: ERIPUIT COELO FULMEN SCEPTRUMQUE TYRANNIS (He seized lightning from the heavens and the scepter from tyrants).

The drawings for the medallion are in the collections of the Boston Public Library, with medallions and other related objects acquired from the artist's family in the late 19th century.