What is the source of wear on large medals?

braddick

For example, this attractive yet worn medal:

These obviously didn't circulate and I'd think it was too large to carry in one's pocket.
What would cause this wear?

TomB

This might seem silly, but I would imagine that large format medals would be prone to mishandling and polishing once their custom holders are lost or separated from the medal. After all, something really large wouldn't necessarily be easy to store in an efficient manner. Just a guess, but I think they may have been looked at as less of a medal and more of a household decoration at that point.

braddick

Tom, that is a creative answer and one I hadn't thought of.

Regulated

Giants using them as change.

JBK

Paperweight or kids playing with it.

RogerB

Ordinary handling. This is part of the reason some collectors lacquered medals as soon as they got them.

Sliding about in a coin cabinet will do it also. Every time the drawer was opened all the contents slid around.

ricko

Handling when showing it off ... wearing it if one of those with a pin or attached to a neck ribbon...Cheers, RickO

Insider2

@RogerB said:
Ordinary handling. This is part of the reason some collectors lacquered medals as soon as they got them.

Sliding about in a coin cabinet will do it also. Every time the drawer was opened all the contents slid around.

IMO, this is probably not any type of ordinary wear, UNLESS it was carried as a pocket piece by three generations of a family. It has been cleaned so many times that it has lost its details. Note how the highest part of the design (easiest to rub with the cloth) is very worn down compared with the lower relief design.

291fifth

@TomB said:
This might seem silly, but I would imagine that large format medals would be prone to mishandling and polishing once their custom holders are lost or separated from the medal. After all, something really large wouldn't necessarily be easy to store in an efficient manner. Just a guess, but I think they may have been looked at as less of a medal and more of a household decoration at that point.

In the case of the medal shown in this post I suspect that heavy polishing, many times over a long period of years was the culprit. It has lots of wear but the rims are nearly perfect. Large medals that are mishandled are very prone to rim dings.

RogerB

Many collectors of coins and medals used cabinets to house their coins. Sliding around in cabinet drawers as each drawer was opened and closed could, over time, impart noticeable high-point wear. (Invoking the false term "BU rub.") But, as noted, certainly not the extensive wear shown in one of the thread's illustrations.

braddick

Interesting thoughts. To add to the discussion, here is a photo of the reverse:

Here is a mint state version: