Looking for examples of 18 mm medalets, circa 1860-1885
jonathanb
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(I made this comment in another thread. I'm going to bump it into a thread of its own.)
I'm working on a study of 18 mm medalets struck by the US Mint, William Key, and George Soley. So far I've found about 150 varieties. Unfortunately, there are lots of similar dies that were struck in lots and lots of combinations. This is a case where I don't know what I don't know.
If you have examples of 18 mm medalets and you'd like to share pictures with me, I'd love to see if you have something I don't know about. Responding to this thread is fine, or a PM would work also.
I'll attach some sample pictures in case they jog someone's memory. "Hey, I think I have one of those..." Or even better, "Hey, I have something sort of like that, but different..."
Thanks!
Comments
EDITED TO ADD: This is an example of a Soley medal. However it is 13mm, not 18mm as @jonathanb is collecting.
This project is long overdue. Glad you’re taking it on. I will have to see if I have anything of interest!
@SeattleSlammer reminded me that I have an example, then I saw your post here... I bought this one on a whim probably 10 years ago and never did any research. It's sitting with a few other neat pieces in a padded flip box. The reverse may be interesting to you...
Thanks, @Meltdown. That's the "normal" Julian-listed variety PR-38. There are at least 4 other Lincoln dies that I know of that were also paired with a Broken Column reverse. This is the only pairing that I've seen used on 20th century restrikes such as yours.
Julian also lists PR-37 as a variety with an incuse P on Lincoln's truncation. I'm pretty confident that variety doesn't actually exist, and was one of the few errors in Julian.
Awww. Mine's a re-strike? 😩
Yes, sorry. That's the typical color for restrikes. In my head I call it sort of beige. The originals are much darker.
The originals were also struck with reflective, proof-like surfaces. That part is hard to tell in a picture. If you look at yours in hand, you should be able to see that the fields are matte or "pebbly". In extreme cases the recessed areas in the fields may capture some dirt and you'll be able to see that texture even in pictures. This one from Heritage (https://coins.ha.com/itm/u.s.-mint-medals/lincoln-broken-column-medal-20th-century-restrike-ms67-ngc-julian-pr-38-bronze/a/1158-12575.s shows the matte surfaces pretty clearly in the pictures, especially on the reverse.
My old LCS has a couple. I know I took photos of them when I was helping out there. I'll see if I can locate them at some point.
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