Scored this 1851 Pennsylvania Horticultural Society US Mint Medal! Acetone soak Update

NumisOxide

I'm really excited about this recent pickup! So I was going through some BIN listings on ebay one night 2 weeks ago and this piece was freshly listed up for a bargain price of $43 after tax+ shipping! The seller was an antique dealer up in Ontario, Canada.

So, from what I googled, these were struck by the Philadelphia Mint for the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. The mint struck medals for other private organizations as well up into the 1890s it seems.

This individual medal was awarded to "John Sherwood for the Best Six Specemins of Roses Sept 1851".

It does look like it was placed in some kind of resin, lucite, etc. Right now I have it soaking in acetone. At first the acetone didn't affect the clear substance. I let it soak over night in a glass jar covered. I checked it this morning before work and the acetone lifted whatever it was. I have it soaking now in fresh acetone to get the rest off. The obverse isn't scratched that's a fingerprint which smeared. The acetone also cleaned that off.

I need to some research on who John Sherwood was. I don't have a subscription to Ancestry, if someone does I would appreciate if they can find out anything further. Thank you in advance!!

BTW, can someone confirm the Julian # ? Is it Julian AM.64? Thanks.

Before the soak in acetone. Will update what it looks like after.

After DIY Conservation

LJenkins11

I don't have any knowledge of the history of that piece but that is really cool, nice pickup.

Namvet69

Nice save. Rose propagation and hybridization was a big deal in the USA. In my previous life, I studied Ornamental Horticulture at SUNY Farmingdale and course students maintained the rose garden. And the Animal Husbandry program provided the BEST manure! Peace Roy

DCW

Dies prepared by Charles Cushing Wright if you weren't aware.

ricko

@NumisOxide ... Very nice medal... Look forward to seeing it after restoration. Cheers, RickO

tttwo

From Ancestry:

291fifth

If you are eventually successful in getting all of the foreign substance off the medal you might consider contacting a local art organization to see if they have someone who can repatinate the medal. Try and find out what the original surface looked like so the artisan involved can try and reproduce the original look. The medal appears to have very little actual wear so it should look very good if properly repatinated.

fastfreddie

I love threads like this!

NumisOxide

Thanks everyone!
Here are the results after letting her soak in acetone. I changed out the acetone 3 times. I think the DIY conservation was successful.

NumisOxide

@tttwo said:
From Ancestry:

Thank you for researching that for me! Very much appreciated. > @Namvet69 said:

Nice save. Rose propagation and hybridization was a big deal in the USA. In my previous life, I studied Ornamental Horticulture at SUNY Farmingdale and course students maintained the rose garden. And the Animal Husbandry program provided the BEST manure! Peace Roy

That sounds very cool!

@291fifth said:
If you are eventually successful in getting all of the foreign substance off the medal you might consider contacting a local art organization to see if they have someone who can repatinate the medal. Try and find out what the original surface looked like so the artisan involved can try and reproduce the original look. The medal appears to have very little actual wear so it should look very good if properly repatinated.

I will have to look into that.

291fifth

The Sherwood story really puts the subject of early death in the 19th century in focus. Most people of that era were fortunate if they lived to be 50. Many never made it out of childhood.

Namvet69

@NumisOxide Based on this bio of Sherwood, the medal was well deserved. I've had positive results with liver of sulphur although I did experiment a bit first. Good luck. Peace Roy

NumisOxide

@291fifth said:
The Sherwood story really puts the subject of early death in the 19th century in focus. Most people of that era were fortunate if they lived to be 50. Many never made it out of childhood.

Yes was really sad to hear so many of the children died in infancy.> @Namvet69 said:

@NumisOxide Based on this bio of Sherwood, the medal was well deserved. I've had positive results with liver of sulphur although I did experiment a bit first. Good luck. Peace Roy

Will check into that. Yes, definitely won't use this as a test piece. Thanks.

yosclimber

@291fifth said:
The Sherwood story really puts the subject of early death in the 19th century in focus. Most people of that era were fortunate if they lived to be 50. Many never made it out of childhood.

Including the frequent deaths of women in childbirth, and resulting multiple marriages.

291fifth

@yosclimber said:

@291fifth said:
The Sherwood story really puts the subject of early death in the 19th century in focus. Most people of that era were fortunate if they lived to be 50. Many never made it out of childhood.

Including the frequent deaths of women in childbirth, and resulting multiple marriages.

Death as a result of childbirth complications was the number one cause of death among women during that era. The number two cause of death was burns and the resulting infections. Women were constantly working around open flames while cooking and the long dresses they wore just added to the danger. When cooking in open fireplaces it was common practice for women to wet the bottom of their long dresses in order to reduce the risk of fire.

DelawareDoons

@291fifth said:
The Sherwood story really puts the subject of early death in the 19th century in focus. Most people of that era were fortunate if they lived to be 50. Many never made it out of childhood.

Once you got to 10 years old, though, most would make it to 50. The vast majority of deaths happened early in childhood, or at 55+.