How not to overpay on medals

Askari

Here's a lovely Art Nouveau medal by Georges Guiraud (1900-1989). I was not surprised that I got outbid, but I was amazed at the final price. Why? Look at the third photograph down, which shows the bottom edge of the medal. You can clearly see the marking of "BRONZE" and to its left is a cornucopia hallmark of the Paris Mint. Further to the left, though, is a date, which appears to be something like 1989 or 1999. What this date means is that the medal is a recent restrike -- and therefore much less valuable than an original would be. Apparently many of the bidders -- some of whom are experienced enough to know better -- didn't notice this "minor" detail.

By no means are all restrikes dated like this. The Paris Mint is one of the few to consistently do this and have done so at least since the end of WWII.

laurentyvan

At least the seller put a big scan of the 1999 date on his auction page-do you think the word restrike should be in the description?
Or has he fulfilled the letter of the law, fairness-wise?

elverno

Well, the only thing he *didn't* do is put "restrike" in the text. A lot of reputable dealers figure it's your business to know what a hallmark means. A friend of mine wrote a fairly definitive explanation on his website.

Basically, anything with an edge mark (poincon) from the Paris Mint was struck after 1830; if bronze or copper after 1842 or so. If you've got a Krause you'll see the correspondance between the dates and the privy marks used.

lordmarcovan

<< <i>How not to overpay on medals >>



I find that not buying any works well for me!

(...of course, I can see why you might find some of that Art Nouveau stuff tempting- it's gorgeous!)

Darkhorse

I wish more women in their prime would do their gardening like that.

elverno

<< <i>I wish more women in their prime would do their gardening like that. >>



Visit the Czech Republic in the summer, in the small country villages. Many young ladies choose to do their gardening in their best undies, I'm not exactly sure why...

lordmarcovan

Wow- they should put that in the tourist brochures!

Askari

Personally, I feel he should either have put "Restrike" in the header or clearly stated in the description.


I had not heard that about Czech women. I have known a few ladies who liked to clean their house in the buff ... which has occasioned some interesting tales when they answered the doorbell.

mongoose

Good info, medals are a very Dark part of the Dark Side...scary. I sure like looking at them though.

291fifth

I have been a collector of medals for many years. How much should you pay for medals, even very nice ones? My answer is: "Not Much!" The market for medals is very, very thin. Unless you can buy them very cheap, pass. You need to think like a dealer when buying medals.