Inspected my Roty medal under a digital microscope

dxd1995

Today I had a look at my newly acquired medal under a digital microscope. Pretty amazing what this 80-dollar device can do. I saw many tiny little holes/cavities on the surface of the medal. Does it mean this medal is cast rather than striked? However if I remembered correctly, nearly all French art/commemorate medals in this era with similar size (50mm diameter) should be striked medal...

pruebas

Could be a sandblasted finish?

Or perhaps struck on a cast planchet?

dxd1995

Or perhaps struck on a cast planchet?

Is it possible that the die is cast?

harasha

Well, first of all, I was surprised to see a reference to Oscar Roty. I can't see enough postings about medals on the Forum, let alone the aforementioned Roty. I would make the comment, however, that microscopic viewing has important, but limited purposes. Never thought about the finishes on the medal, but I suspect that Pruebas has it correct about it being a sandblasted finish.

dxd1995

@harasha Thank you very much for your reply! Could you please give me some examples of sandblasted finish coins or medals?

cacheman

Just about any struck silver medals by Goetz . Many examples can be found at (http://CoinArchives.com) by searching on 'Goetz'.