FSHO: 1913 US Mint gold medals Massachusetts Horticultural Society Julian AM-42
jonathanb
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Julian AM-42 was produced by the US Mint for the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. In bronze or silver it's sort of middle-rarity among Julian-listed US Mint medals, especially in the AM- series of agricultural, mechanical, scientific, and professional award medals.
In gold, this medal should also be somewhat obtainable. The mint struck a handful per year for decades, starting before 1850. And yet, auction records show the opposite. There are no examples in gold in the Stacks or Heritage archives. I'm pretty sure that no others have been sold in major auctions in the last 20+ years. I don't have any earlier sale records either, although my records are spotty before 2000.
The Stack's archive does have a couple of later examples, struck in 1925 and 1930. Those were struck with new dies on smaller planchets with a matte finish. The larger examples here have the proof surfaces that were more typical of 19th century US Mint medals.
These medals are 51 mm in diameter and weigh about 71.5 grams (2.3 troy ounces). They are struck in .999 fine gold, as per US Mint records, and confirmed through non-destructive testing. At this writing, that makes them worth over $4,000 each just for the gold value alone. It's possible that other examples have been melted for their gold value over the years, given how much gold is in each one.
Writing in the October, 1985, edition of TAMS Journal, Julian reports that the US Mint struck 8 gold medals for the Massachusetts Horticultural Society on August 11, 1913, with an average weight of 2.2875 troy ounces. Since one of these was awarded in June 1913, it's possible that these are from the previous year's production (5 struck on August 8, 1912 with an average weight of 2.29 troy ounces). Or it could be that they were awarded in June and delivered later, given that the engraving had to have happened later anyway.
I'd say that both medals are uncirculated, although hairlined. Hairlines are unfortunately common on soft 24K gold medals. If you want to say that they're About Uncirculated due to the hairlines, I won't argue. One of the also has some marks on the rims as shown.
Your choice for $6,000 each or $11,000 for the pair
There are two pairs of obv/rev pictures here, with different lighting. Both medals were awarded to William Sim in 1913.
For Advancement in Flower and Vegetable Culture
For Collection of Sweet Peas
Comments
Wow, rare to see on the BST! 👍🏻
ANA LM
USAF Retired — 34 years of active military service! 🇺🇸
If these don't sell here I'm sure they would do well at Stack's, probably more than you're asking.
Very nice
That could well be. Stack's sold a similar julian AM-54 in gold for $7,200 earlier this year. That one weighed a bit less, but the spot price of gold was a bit higher when it sold versus now, so the gold value is similar for two similar US Mint medals.
I'd prefer to sell these here if possible, saving the buyer's fees at auction for a board member.
Yeah, very hard to price these. I think they are really cool! I'd probably be interested in both at $9500 just because they seem neat, but I don't know much about them.
The $7,200 sales price would have netted the seller $5760 after the 20% BP is deducted, and it seems like that one was older with a different, more interesting subject matter (although not as much gold).
Since most people do not know much about these pieces, have them graded by third party will make buyers (including me) more confident to purchase them.
I think I'd like to stick with $11,000 as the cash price for the pair. The gold value alone is about $8,000, although if a new owner wants to melt these down I sure hope they don't tell me. I'm asking not even 1.5x gold value. Not even 1.4x, even.
If you'd like to be creative and propose a trade or partial trade, I'd be willing to listen. Someone who is interested in these might have similar items to suggest in exchange. I'm not looking for something specific. It would be up to you to do the proposing. I might still say 'no' in the end, but I'd listen.
I keep my medals raw, and I especially dislike the super-huge slabs that would be used for medals of this size. I absolutely guarantee that these are genuine, without qualification. US Mint medals from the 1800s and early 1900s have a "look" that really is unmistakeable. That's not even counting other factors like matching the weight to the US Mint records, or confirming the purity of these examples. These are authentic.
I won't guarantee any specific grade. I gave up predicting grades a long time ago, sorry!