Auction Could Bring American History Home

This gold medal is very small, but very big in symbolism. As CBS News correspondent Randall Pinkston reports, it represents an important link between two icons in American history: George Washington, the commanding general of the Continental Army, and the Marquis De Lafayette, the Frenchman who became one of Washington's youngest generals and closest aides.

"We couldn't have had our independence in the United States if we didn't have the support of the French," said presidential historian Douglas Brinkley. "And Lafayette sort of emerged from the American Revolution as the great hero, of, not just France, but of America."

The medal represented Washington's membership in an organization of Continental Army officers called the Society of the Cincinnati - named for the Roman Cincinnatus - a general known for refusing to hold on to power after winning a war.

"That's exactly the way Washington felt the true patriot had to behave," said David Redden, chairman of Sotheby's, the company hosting the auction.

In 1824, 25 years after Washington's death, Lafayette returned to America to great fanfare.

"He was a rock star of that day," said Louise Mirrer of the New York Historical Society. "He absolutely was."

Washington's family gave Lafayette the medal. It remained in his family in France until a descendant decided to put it up for auction.

"We thought that if it were to come back to America, it could be seen and celebrated by so many people," said Arnaut Meunier Du Houssoy, the seventh great-grandson of General Lafayette.

The actual value of the Washington-Lafayette Medal won't be known until someone buys it. But here's a hint: Sotheby's expect the winning bid to range between four and 10 million dollars

The hope is that the buyer will allow the medal to go on public display in the U.S. to remind Americans how important France was to the birth of our nation.