Does Anyone Collect Marbles Tournament Medals?
terribleredmonster
Posts: 456 ✭
Howdy, everybody. I realize that this may not be the proper forum for this question, but it certainly appears to be the closest available here.
At any rate, I'm in possession of an Official (meaning that it was worn by a judge or tournament organizer, not just that it was produced "officially" for the tournament) medal from the 1929 Pittsburgh Press Marbles Tournament and I'd like to learn more about it, but I've reached the limit of my Googling skills without satisfaction. Being as this is the case, I wondered if anyone here (home to some of the most knowledgeable people I can think of, and with some of the most diverse collecting interests I've ever heard about) collects marbles tournament medals/memorabilia or simply knows a thing or two about them?
Using the knowledge that I've acquired while collecting coins for the past fifteen years or so, as well as the small amount of information I was able to learn specifically about medals like these, here is what I am able to tell you all with certainty about this particular medal:
1) This is an Official medal for the 1929 Pittsburgh Press Marbles Tournament.
2) It was produced (most likely struck) by the Bastian Brothers Company of Rochester, NY.
3) It has the appearance, weight, and overall feel of bronze, but also appears to have been plated with something.
4) The medal appears to be complete with all component parts (save the original packaging) as compared to images and descriptions of similar medals for this purpose and from this era.
5) The inscription in the center of the maker's mark appears to read "W.P.B." on top and "P.I.L." on the bottom.
6) There are no obvious (to me) giveaways for this medal being counterfeit, such as surface defects caused by cast copying or unwarranted edge seams. Being that most websites that I read on this subject site counterfeits (or replicas, depending upon how one chooses to see them) not being generally known until the 1990s when original medals started to become prohibitively/profitably expensive, this isn't surprising.
I've included a few images below for any possible experts to peruse and for the rest of us to simply enjoy. I was pleased to find this medal in an auction lot some time ago because it combines certain aspects of numismatics with the wider history of simple pastimes, many of which have fallen out of favor in this country and beyond. If there happens to be something (virtually ANYTHING) that you can tell me about this medal, the marbles tournament medals market (if such a thing really exists), or even the 1929 Pittsburgh Press Marbles Tournament itself, please don't hesitate to message me. Your assistance will be greatly appreciated.
Comments
https://www.hakes.com/Auction/ItemDetail/71473/PITTSBURGH-PRESS-MARBLE-TOURNAMENT-BRASS-WATCH-FOB-BY-BASTIAN
https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0LEVjVUTGVZc2AAJ.AnnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTByOHZyb21tBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg--/RV=2/RE=1499839701/RO=10/RU=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12248079/the_pittsburgh_press_annual_jackstone//RK=1/RS=hJaCaQigjyUmn7Olm8vvEo7UMCM-
http://www.buymarbles.com/marblealan/repromedals.html
https://www.nationalmarblestournament.org/past-national-champions.html
Food for thought @KbKards . Thanks!
maaaaybe call one of the old newspaper guys at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette...worth a shot.....pun not intended but not bad.......but i knew marble tournaments etc used to be big so maybe some old Yinzer (pittsburgher) at the newspaper may recall or help u out.
@seebelow That's a solid idea, sir, and, as it happens, I'm about as geographically close to being a Yinzer as you can get without actually being one.