Truman Silver Medal - anyone know the weight?

claychaser

It's big and .999 silver. Anybody know the weight? It's actually a really nice medal IMHO.

MsMorrisine

it's on an ASE blank.

check the specifications tab on the product page. all the specs are the same as an ASE

DCW

It's one ounce, as per the specifications link. I agree that it's really nice. Hopefully not a reproduction.

MsMorrisine

<< <i>It's one ounce, as per the specifications link. I agree that it's really nice. Hopefully not a reproduction. >>



when they re-worked the FDR medal, it was in lower relief IIRC.

claychaser

<< <i>it's on an ASE blank.

check the specifications tab on the product page. all the specs are the same as an ASE >>



Thanks. Never even noticed the "specifications" tab

BackroadJunkie

<< <i>It's one ounce, as per the specifications link. I agree that it's really nice. Hopefully not a reproduction. >>

It's a reproduction of Truman's presidential medal, except on a 1ozt blank.

I wish they would have included the 1.5" bronze like they did with the FDR. The mint did a nice job of retooling that medal.

DCW

<< <i>It's a reproduction of Truman's presidential medal, except on a 1ozt blank. >>



Well, that sucks! I knew it looked too good to be designed recently. Is this mint capable of producing anything original that has any type of artistry?

claychaser

Flame me if you wish, but . . .

I think producing all of the presidential medals in retro designs on the ASE blanks would be really cool. I'm not sure how they would do the early presidents, or what archives are available to work from. As long as they stayed true as possible to any of the original designs and stayed away from modern and PC art, I would actually collect the series.

I'm totally lacking any real knowledge of mint medals, but I think many of them are just cool.

MsMorrisine

and if they made them in silver, I'd hope they'd keep the relief.

BillJones

<< <i>and if they made them in silver, I'd hope they'd keep the relief. >>



The trouble is the original medals were mostly 3 inches in diameter. When you reduce the diameter EVERYTHING, including the relief gets smaller.

I don't know which of these ASE based pieces displeased you, but I was really disappointed with the Theodore Roosevelt piece until I acquired a 1950s issue example in silver. The original Barber - Morgan piece had low relief elements on it so the relief only got worse when the design was reduced.

Here is the ASE based piece from the 2013 set.




And here is a 3 inch silver medal from the 1950s. This piece was a special striking that a guy named Rice was able to have made at the mint. From what I've been able to learn if you supplied the mint with silver and paid a fee, you could get a silver medal made. These were regularly offered in "yellow bronze." I bought this in a Stacks' auction a couple of years ago.

claychaser

BillJones,

That's a really informative post - thanks! I agree, the relief on the smaller medal is too shallow. To do it right, the engraver would have to modify the design to make it work on the eagle blank. I think it could be done, but integrity to the "spirit" of the original design would be needed.