US Mint medals: "Chocolate" originals and "Yellow Bronze" restrikes
jonathanb
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I took this picutre to illustrate a point for somone in email, but it's a good point so I figured I'd post it here also.
The US Mint produced a lot of bronze medals in the 1800s, but then they kept striking them through the 1900s. Some of the modern restrikes are still available on their web site. Obviously, the 19th century originals are worth more than the modern restrikes.
The modern restrikes are made from a slightly different metal than the originals, called "Yellow Bronze". The originals are typically described as "Chocolate" in color. Unfortunately, none of those color terms will do you any good without a basis for comparison.
Here is a picture showing four different specimens of the Washington medal cataloged as Baker-279b and as Julian CM-2c.
The top left is a modern restrike with no wear, showing how the Yellow Bronze looks unmolested (I've seen brighter specimens that are even more yellow).
The top right is another Yellow Bronze, but with wear. You can see that as these medals get a little wear, the "yellow" part of "Yellow Bronze" has less meaning, although it's still obvious in the protected areas if you realize what you're looking at.
The bottom right is a 19-century original. That's "Chocolate".
That leaves the bottom left. I don't know what to make of it. I bought it before I understood what an original was supposed to look like (and I didn't pay much for it anyway, so that doesn't matter). I'm pretty sure it's not an original, and the color isn't the only reason I say that. But I don't think it's a totally-modern restrike either. Maybe this is a restrike from the early 1900s rather than the late 1900s? Dunno. Always more to learn...
The US Mint produced a lot of bronze medals in the 1800s, but then they kept striking them through the 1900s. Some of the modern restrikes are still available on their web site. Obviously, the 19th century originals are worth more than the modern restrikes.
The modern restrikes are made from a slightly different metal than the originals, called "Yellow Bronze". The originals are typically described as "Chocolate" in color. Unfortunately, none of those color terms will do you any good without a basis for comparison.
Here is a picture showing four different specimens of the Washington medal cataloged as Baker-279b and as Julian CM-2c.
The top left is a modern restrike with no wear, showing how the Yellow Bronze looks unmolested (I've seen brighter specimens that are even more yellow).
The top right is another Yellow Bronze, but with wear. You can see that as these medals get a little wear, the "yellow" part of "Yellow Bronze" has less meaning, although it's still obvious in the protected areas if you realize what you're looking at.
The bottom right is a 19-century original. That's "Chocolate".
That leaves the bottom left. I don't know what to make of it. I bought it before I understood what an original was supposed to look like (and I didn't pay much for it anyway, so that doesn't matter). I'm pretty sure it's not an original, and the color isn't the only reason I say that. But I don't think it's a totally-modern restrike either. Maybe this is a restrike from the early 1900s rather than the late 1900s? Dunno. Always more to learn...
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Keets, can you line us up a siimilar series of pictures for the Louisiana Purchase medals? I've never understood how to tell gold plated bronze apart from gilt, or how to tell bronze apart from copper. Even brass versus bronze makes me scratch my head once the luster is gone...
jonathan
How about this one? It was almost black, and struck within a narrow time frame according to the catalog. I bought this one because I have always wanted a John Reich medal, and this is supposedly struck from the original dies. 1804 Preble
I am a novice to these, but find them to be fascinating items. I see it is just as easy to get plucked in this specialty as any other.
Another good indication is the quality of the surfaces. The "yellow bronze" restrikes are all (?) struck with a pebbly, matte surface that's totally unlike the original strikes. You can tell even from the picture that the Adams medal has glossy surfaces. I think the Preble medal might also, but that's harder to tell from the pics.
Here is another example I'm confident is original: A Grant Birthday meday, Julian PR-18. You can see the glossy surfaces clearly, at least on the reverse. It is also definitely "not yellow":
The ANR medals all had very nice mirrored surfaces. I'm not sure why some are classified as proof and non proof. I can't tell the difference.
- Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106-43 BC