When will this be straightened out and understood??

keets

From the book So-Called Dollars:
HK-852 Silver. 38mm. Only 50 struck, according to John W. Haseltine.
HK-852a Silver. Bashlow restrike. Small S on reverse.
HK-852b Gold. 40.5mm to 41mm. 56.8 grams.
HK-853 Copper. Slightly less than 4mm. thick.
HK-853a Bronze. Bashlow restrike.
HK-854 White Metal. Thickness, 3mm.
HK-854a White Metal. Bowers restrike.
HK-855 Pewter. Approximately 4mm. thick. Sometimes listed as tin.
HK-856 Lead. Slightly more than 2mm. thick.
HK-856a Goldine. Bashlow restrike.

NOTE: In 1962, 7,200 White Metal restrikes were issued by the current owners of the dies, Empire Coin Company, owned by Q. David Bowers. The medals were minted by John Pinches & Sons, Ltd., of England. Empire Coin die varieties can be attributed by a small die gouge above the O of Continental in the denticles and a diagonal scratch below the C in Continental. Empire Coin Company then sold the dies to Robert Bashlow, who produced 2,000 Silver, 3,000 Goldine and 5,000 Bronze restrikes, together with "a few trial pieces in various metals." He later announced that "dies have already been donated to the Smithsonian Institution..." Thickness of these White Metal restrikes is approximately 2 1/2 mm. as compared with 3 mm. thickness of Dickeson piece, No. 854. Silver restrikes by Bashlow have small S on reverse and are approximately 2 3/4 mm. in thickness (no S on No. 852); Goldine and Bronze restrikes are approximately 2 1/2 mm. thick.

So you tell me, which medal is this, HK-854 or HK-854a??

Al H.

keets

for comparison, here is the obverse of an actual HK-854, absent the die gouge and scratch.