Does it look like this medal had a loop removed??
Maywood
Posts: 2,172 ✭✭✭✭✭
I noticed a listing on eBay this morning for an HK-901 WWI Victory Medal that PCGS has encapsulated. The listing, linked below, states "without the loop" can be confusing. I'm not sure if PCGS would grade a medal with a loop removed and the images clearly show some type of damage in the area where the loop will be. The image below is from the listing but the link should allow that same image to be enlarged. I've never seen one of these without a loop or evidence of one having been removed. The question is simple: Do you believe this medal had a loop removed??
Thanks in advance.
Maywood
https://ebay.com/itm/175384002006?hash=item28d5b37dd6:g:zgoAAOSwII1i-cfo
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Comments
I think it's ok. The looped versions have a different finish than the unlooped ones, and the reddish color in the eBay listing is appropriate for an unlooped example.
I tend to agree with the above statement, but I also thought the same thing when I saw it.
Original US Mint dies still exist - I believe I’ve seen 4 or 5 different ones over the years, and loops were not engraved into the dies, as they sometimes are. (Medallic Art Co. did that all the time, and simply lathed off the loop, if they didn’t want it for certain variations of finished product.)
I also don’t remember seeing any of these medals with the metal edge flange (also know as splash) still on it. So it’s possible that these were struck in a collar, rather than multi-struck out-out-of-collar. I’d like to see examples with the flange, if others know they exist!
If there truly is a surface finish distinction between a looped medal and a non-looped medal, I would think it likely represents unfinished medals or medals that were removed for quality issues, where the loop was never added and the surface finishing was not completed.
As I write this I am looking at my grandfather's WWI Victory medal, which was the normal medal with ribbon given to servicemen. The medal you picture shows no trace of the attachment at 12:00 and so is almost certainly the version that was issued without the ribbon.