Way outside my league - medals (I need some ID help)

coppercoins

Got these two hunks of metal and don't know what they are, when they were issued, or how much people buy them for. Any help out there?

Craton

The top one sure is pretty.

Man

The bottom one is a Washington Bicentennial
Commemorative here's a Link to the entire history of that one.

coppercoins

Hmm, that's odd...the article (thanks) says that they were struck in silver and bronze and come in 2-3/4 and 2-1/2 inch sizes...the one I have is barely 2-3/16. Sub-type? Copy? Anyone with value information?

The bottom medal is 2-1/2 inches.

coppercoins

Okay, a little research here tells me the first one is a commemorative to the centennial of the Great Seal of the United States. Nice...so are these things worth trying to sell or are they paperweights?

Man

Wait you just said the bottom is 2½ inches that is just as the bronze from the article should be.

coppercoins

Woops...meant the top one.

the bottom one is not quite 2-1/4 across.

Anyhow, did a bit of drudging through the thick muck of eBay (I really vemiantly hate eBay) and found that the Washington medals don't even sell at $10, and there is a Great Seal medal selling for $24 and change. Neither are worth my time to list there (hardly anything IS worth my time there). I guess they'll just end up in a box or something.

Man

Judging by other medals of those time periods about $50 each.

Just a guess I'm not a medal collector I think those guys go to sleep early.

Edited to say not even close with the price you found but those examples you have are very fine.

Craton

Thanks for entering me in your give-a-way!

jonathanb

The top one is Julian CM-20. The large-sized mint medals have been heavily reproduced, starting pretty much from their first production. A lot of them are still avilable (as reproductions) directly from the mint. Based on the spotting on the eagle side, I'd guess that yours isn't a super-modern version. But is it original? I don't know how to tell, sorry.

If you found a buyer who knew what he was doing and could identify it as an original, I imagine it would be worth a few hundred dollars. As a status-unknown piece? $50 isn't a bad guess. Might be less; might be more.

If you're looking to get rid of it, send me a PM. But you'd probably be better off trying to find someone who was more knowledgeable.

jonathan

jonathanb

I found the Washington medal currently on eBay. Yours seems to have a matte-er surface, but the design is the same as this one. Currently bid at $11 with 4 days to go.

jonathan