Questions on medal...

savoyspecial

i recently picked this up because i liked the way it looked:

the front has "Daniel Dupuis" near the rim, presumably for Jean-Baptiste Daniel-Dupuis (although he died in 1899 and this medal seems to date from 1904)

anyone who can offer any more info please post away







greg

STLNATS

Its a medal for the St Louis World's Fair (correctly the Louisiana Purchase Exposition) held here in 1904. Interestingly, the Fair was supposed to be held in 1903, but - in typical STL fashion - the city fathers couldn't get their act together in time and the fair was a year late.

I've not seen one with this much wear before and presume it was a pocket piece. These medals were sold as souvenirs and at least some came in a round blue box with a white label. I've seen them offered in the $50-75 range for mint state examples. There are several other medals commemerating the Fair as well as the US gold commemerative $.

I've seen the obverse design, or one quite similar, on other late 19th century French medals and have always assumed that the obverse was just lifted and mated with the reverse, perhaps explaining the difference in dates you cite.

BTW, that's Ceres on the obverse (sickle and wheat in hair, etc) and is indeed a very interesting and attractive design.

Hope that helps a little.