The state of Russian medals?

laurentyvan

About two weeks ago I was in a coin shop that was in the process of buying a collection of Russian Medals, approx. 30 to 40 or so.
I was able to examine each one as it crossed the dealers glass and felt-topped, well-illuminated appraisal desk.

A variety of 70mm or larger and many 40 to 50mm sized medals, mixture of copper or bronze, silver, early to mid-19th century; some Napoleonic (several nice Napoleons included, Elverno), others were primarily Russian royalty or allegorical historical medals from the same period to late 19th century. Some late 19th to earlier-20th century medals-mostly shooting or hunting medals and a couple of pieces of odd-ball stuff.

Condition of most medals seem to be original but maybe 25 to 30% with that Acetone/Q-tip shine... wear seemed Unc/AU to XF all the way around.

A quiet and informal auction is taking place for this box of medals-my question is this: what is the current state of nice Russian medals in general? I realize the impossibility of very specific answers given the paucity of information given, but does anyone have a feel for the market? This item will sell for a little over $1000-best guess.

elverno

The price of the Napoleonic subject medals tend to be fairly high; say in the $200+ area. That is despite the fact that the medals themselves weren't produced, for the most part, until the mid-1830s. There were a small number of contemporary medals produced, the most famous of which are the medal for priests (in the shape of an Orthodox cross) and the 1812 merchant's medals (such as this one). The large beautiful medals with a helmeted Alexander I in cuirass dated from about 1836 when a Count Tolstoy (father of the writer I believe) commissioned a series. You probably saw some of those and they are the ones that typically cost $200-500 each. That's ironic since there are so few collectors that acquire the Russian medals; you'd think the prices would stay low. Oh well...