Funny thing is, I seem to recall seeing that before.. but I say that with everything
Boz might know, he has one of the better Vicky medal collections around, though I didn't see this one in his gallery. Might want to add "Victoria" or something to the title to attract his attention, Dan.
<< <i>I will have to look into that! I was assuming some sort of souvenir or something. -Dan >>
Don't forget that aluminum was very expensive in the mid-1800s. I am not sure when the price came down, but this piece was probably not meant to be a cheap item. Cheap medals from the period are white metal.
The Hall process, the electrical method of making pure aluminum, was not developed until 1886. Before then, the metal was very expensive: In the 1860s, the Emperor Napoleon III of France impressed visiting dignitaries with his aluminum metal cutlery! The metal was an exotic novelty of the rich and powerful. Eventually, the practical Hall process made the price drop enormously. What date is this coin?
I like Al coins too, but all of mine are modern (and cheap).
There is no date, but Victoria was born in 1819 and she was already queen when this token was issued, so it was after 1837. Judging by the young image, I would say before 1859 (i.e. she was in her 30's). My guess is early 1850's.
According to my source, 'Nature's Building Blocks' by John Emsley, the Hall process dropped the price of Al by a factor of 1000 from when Napoleon III had his fancy spoons. Based on that pdf, that comes to about $2 million/ton in 1998 dollars, still about 150 times as much as it was in 1900! That is well in excess of the current silver price (not up to gold though.)
So the metal in that Victoria coin was not cheap at all!
ormandh
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I love aluminum coins, by the way!
my car art & My Ebay stuff
Great piece, whatever it is!
My wantlist & references
Boz might know, he has one of the better Vicky medal collections around, though I didn't see this one in his gallery. Might want to add "Victoria" or something to the title to attract his attention, Dan.
My wantlist & references
<< <i>I will have to look into that! I was assuming some sort of souvenir or something. -Dan >>
Don't forget that aluminum was very expensive in the mid-1800s. I am not sure when the price came down, but this piece was probably not meant to be a cheap item. Cheap medals from the period are white metal.
In the 1860s, the Emperor Napoleon III of France impressed visiting dignitaries with his aluminum metal cutlery! The metal was an exotic novelty of the rich and powerful.
Eventually, the practical Hall process made the price drop enormously.
What date is this coin?
I like Al coins too, but all of mine are modern (and cheap).
link to a pdf document
Looks like it was relatively expensive up to WWII
Based on that pdf, that comes to about $2 million/ton in 1998 dollars, still about 150 times as much as it was in 1900!
That is well in excess of the current silver price (not up to gold though.)
So the metal in that Victoria coin was not cheap at all!
I like it. Do you know the date of the coin?