Another rare and interesting item currently offered by Stack's.
Maywood
Posts: 2,100 ✭✭✭✭✭
I noticed this one last week. It is the first "silvered" example I have seen, the two others were both either unplated or had been dipped out to remove the thin plating. Below is the description from the auction and a few images. If you own one of these large Norse medals please post images, if you've seen others can you give a description as to condition? Thanks in advance and enjoy.
Maywood.
1925 Norse-American Centennial Medal. Large Format. Triple Silver-Plated Bronze. Swoger-24Aa. MS-62 (NGC).
A predominantly bright silver gray example of this large and impressive type, both sides are boldly to sharply defined throughout the design. Speckles of light haziness are more prevalent on the reverse, and these join with faint hairlines to explain the BU rating from NGC. The underlying bronze is barely evident here and there around the borders. The dual dated 1825-1925 Norse-American Centennial medal was designed by James Earle Fraser, best known for his all-American Buffalo nickel of 1913 to 1938. Today's collectors are usually content with a pair of the small sized silver pieces that come on thick or thin planchets, and many collectors are inclined to own one of each. The medals also come in gold (very rare), and the large format triple silver-plated example offered here, a rarity in its own right.
The Norse-American Centennial pieces are very interesting. The organizers in 1925 sought to have a coin, but were unsuccessful. Obviously, they did not try hard enough, for other commemoratives were indeed issued in that year. The procedure involved contacting a congressman, explaining the significance of a planned coin, and encouraging a bill to be discussed and passed. The rare and seldom offered large format variant of the Norse-American Centennial medal was produced to the extent of just 75 pieces, only 60 of which were actually distributed. This is a pleasing example for the assigned grade that would make a fitting addition to an advanced collection of commemorative coins and medals.
Comments
they plundered and pillaged through oceans of dip residue
Unfortunately, it may be oxidation from below the surface. That won't rinse away.
Oxidation or dip residue notwithstanding, it is an interesting and rare item that isn't seen very often. I checked some archived sales and found more than I was aware of but the numbers still seem to be less than 20 of the reported 60-75 struck and/or issued. Overall the larger format presents the intended design a but better and most of the detail is sharply visible.
Yes. Tough metal to find.
Don't forget to also get the gold one.
A brillo pad is the only thing that will help that medal.
A long time ago, I came across a silver Norse medal on eBay. It was listed as a “thick” variety and had exceptionally strong details, but had a lot of hairlines that made it appear severely brushed. There was no reference to the size or weight of the medal and not much else could be determined from the photos. I was relatively confident that it was actually one of these large format medals based on its general appearance, so I hit the Buy-it-now button. I think it was about $450 or $500, which is much more than a raw, thick, Norse medal would have been worth, so I was taking a risk.
Not long after, my order was canceled! In my mind, this was confirmation that the medal was the large format version and not the thick version as it had been listed by the seller. Either the seller had realized it, or was informed by another eBay buyer that possibly made a private offer after the sale went through on eBay.
I was a little disappointed, but that’s the way things go. Oh well. It happens quite frequently on eBay. I decided not to dwell on it and put it out of my mind.
A couple days later I was scrolling eBay and, to my surprise, I see the same Norse medal listed! It’s from the same seller, using the same pics, but this time the weight was listed in the title: “Norse American Commemorative 5.5oz” or something like that. This time it was also listed at $1,200 or something like that. With the weight listed, I now had no doubt that it was one of the large format medals and I had no reservations paying that much for it, so I hit the Buy-it-now button again.
The listing had been active for several hours, and I couldn’t believe that nobody else had purchased it. I only happened to see it again by chance; the seller hadn’t notified me that they had relisted it, possibly because they didn’t want to seem like they were simply jacking up the price in response to a listing that sold more quickly than expected.
After the first day, I hadn’t gotten a shipment confirmation email, so I figured that the sale would be canceled again. To my relief, I got a shipment confirmation the following day, but I still had doubts. I thought maybe they would ship something other than the pictured medal.
When the shipment came, I could tell that it wasn’t a normal, thick, medal based on the weight of the package. It was much heavier. When I opened the package, my original gut feeling was confirmed; it was indeed a large format medal! The surfaces were not brushed. That was an artifact of the silver plating process and is seen on most of the other large format medals. It graded out at 63 or 64 and I ended up selling it a few months later for a decent profit. Wish I would have been able to keep it, but I couldn’t justify it at the time.
Great story @GoldenEgg, things like that happen. I had a similar experience about 10 years ago with an unplated medal, it was running as an auction and it seemed like nobody else was interested or had seen it. It went crazy on the last day.
Yes very cool story GoldenEgg
@GoldenEgg, knowledge is money. Nice story.