A very tiny medal- 1877 Lord's Prayer Medal

NumisOxide · January 17, 2023 6:10PM

This was one of my last buys of 2022! From what I read, it's one of the many miniature medals produced by George B. Soley who worked for the U.S. Mint. I believe he owned the first steam press and minted souvenirs at various expos and fairs. I never realized the edges were reeded!

jesbroken · January 17, 2023 9:20PM

Here's mine from 1882 with the Lord's Prayer and the U.S. Mint at Philadelphia. It's about 1mm smaller than a gold dollar circa 1850. Sorry about the sloppy trim work, but hurried. Yours is too cool regarding the First Steam Coining Press mentioned on the item. I enlarged it inorder to be able to read the Lord's Prayer. Sorry if too large.
Jim

Jimnight · January 17, 2023 9:28PM

Real nice!

Zoins · January 17, 2023 9:33PM

Congrats on a picking up a wonder and historic medal @coinJP!

George Bache Soley really made some wonderful pieces!

I really like the ones that say they were struck in the Main Building of the International Exhibition like yours.

These come dated 1876 and 1877. Here's my 1876 piece in silver.

Zoins · January 17, 2023 9:35PM

I also have this silver and brass pair struck in 1879:

MedalCollector · January 18, 2023 2:03AM

@Zoins said:
George Bache Soley really made some wonderful pieces!

I really like the ones that say they were struck in the Main Building of the International Exhibition.

These come dated 1876 and 1877. Here's my 1876 piece in silver.

These were also struck with an 1878 date. It’s much rarer than the 76 or 77!

MedalCollector · January 18, 2023 2:06AM

And very nice @coinJP! Your example is relatively problem-free with sharp details. I like it!

If you don’t already know, many of Soley’s productions are actually smaller (13mm) in diameter than this International Exhibition medal, which is about 17 or 18mm.

shish · January 18, 2023 2:29AM

The Lord's Prayer engraved on a half dollar.

MWallace · January 18, 2023 4:05AM

@shish said:
The Lord's Prayer engraved on a half dollar.

Very very cool. I've been extensively collecting coins engraved with The Lord's Prayer for about 20 years now. That is the very first one I've seen on a Half Dollar.

Zoins · January 18, 2023 6:53AM

@GoldenEgg said:

@Zoins said:
George Bache Soley really made some wonderful pieces!

I really like the ones that say they were struck in the Main Building of the International Exhibition.

These come dated 1876 and 1877. Here's my 1876 piece in silver.

These were also struck with an 1878 date. It’s much rarer than the 76 or 77!

Awesome! I don't think I've seen one yet!

Given that the State Fair pieces were done in 1879 we have a dated run from 76 to 79!

I also have the following 1882 piece and now I'm wondering if there are any dated 80 and 81 pieces to link them?

Of note, I was just looking at this and it ends with "deliver us from the evil one" while the others say "deliver us from evil".

Zoins · January 18, 2023 6:56AM

@GoldenEgg said:
And very nice @coinJP! Your example is relatively problem-free with sharp details. I like it!

If you don’t already know, many of Soley’s productions are actually smaller (13mm) in diameter than this International Exhibition medal, which is about 17 or 18mm.

The 13mm pieces are wonderful and are historic. They were done at this size because Soley had access to US Mint die stock for the gold dollar coins which were used for these.

I'm a big fan and collector of these. Here's one of my 13mm pieces in silver! I've never seen another, so I've been wondering if it's unique.

Here's a thread with more Soley pieces:

https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1021607/george-soley-medals