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NEWP: Rulau E9 World Map Medal, ca. 1815
jonathanb
Posts: 4,112 ✭✭✭✭✭
Stacks sold one of these medals a couple of years ago and ever since then I've been sort of annoyed that I didn't win it. Fortunately, everything appears on eBay if you're patient enough.
This unusual medal says nothing about who made it or why. It consists entirely of a map of the world, with the Western Hemisphere on one side of the medal and the Eastern Hemisphere on the other. This is a big medal, 73.9 mm (just under 3 inches) in diameter. It is a white-metal piece, still almost completely reflective, unlike the Stacks specimen which was almost completely non-reflective.
Stacks described it like this:
"Style of Sir Edward Thomason. Obv. Western hemisphere shows names United States, anachronistic New Albion, peninsula California, Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii) in mid-Pacific. Rev. Eastern hemisphere offers few clues to date of striking but Australia and Tasmania appear as New Holland and Van Dieman's Land."
In addition to those, I particularly like the island of Owyhee (say it out loud) as the south-easternmost of the Sandwich Islands. Apparently, it's possibly to date the medal to 1815 or so, based on the particular combination of modern/archaic names used (for example, it mus have been struck after 1776 because it mentions the United Sta. but probably not much after that because that label is stuck to the eastern seabord.)
This is listed as Rulau E9 in Rulau's Discovering America.
(Cross-posted to the US and World Coin forums because, well, wouldn't you?)
This unusual medal says nothing about who made it or why. It consists entirely of a map of the world, with the Western Hemisphere on one side of the medal and the Eastern Hemisphere on the other. This is a big medal, 73.9 mm (just under 3 inches) in diameter. It is a white-metal piece, still almost completely reflective, unlike the Stacks specimen which was almost completely non-reflective.
Stacks described it like this:
"Style of Sir Edward Thomason. Obv. Western hemisphere shows names United States, anachronistic New Albion, peninsula California, Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii) in mid-Pacific. Rev. Eastern hemisphere offers few clues to date of striking but Australia and Tasmania appear as New Holland and Van Dieman's Land."
In addition to those, I particularly like the island of Owyhee (say it out loud) as the south-easternmost of the Sandwich Islands. Apparently, it's possibly to date the medal to 1815 or so, based on the particular combination of modern/archaic names used (for example, it mus have been struck after 1776 because it mentions the United Sta. but probably not much after that because that label is stuck to the eastern seabord.)
This is listed as Rulau E9 in Rulau's Discovering America.
(Cross-posted to the US and World Coin forums because, well, wouldn't you?)
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Comments
Which is to say, extremely cool.
Collector since 1976. On the CU forums here since 2001.
Thanks for posting that one.
Brian
SIX megafonzies. I actually had to look a little closer. That thing is mindblowing. The sort of piece that could be "a collection in its own right".
Congratulations. How much did this one set you back, if you don't mind us asking?
Collector since 1976. On the CU forums here since 2001.
Rick
1836 Capped Liberty
dime. My oldest US
detecting find so far.
I dig almost every
signal I get for the most
part. Go figure...
Great pick up. Congratulations!
I like how Stacks calls the Western Hemisphere the obverse and the Eastern the Reverse. How can you really say which is which? Is it because we are in the Western?
DPOTD
Collecting:
Conder tokens
19th & 20th Century coins from Great Britain and the Realm
1/2 Cents
U.S. Revenue Stamps
Cathy
I have larger pics, but I can't get them down to the 50K limit for posting attachments. If anyone wants a copy, send my your email by PM.
jonathan
My OmniCoin Collection
My BankNoteBank Collection
Tom, formerly in Albuquerque, NM.
Being a global nomad myself, I love it! It's now on my want list.
<< <i>I have larger pics, but I can't get them down to the 50K limit for posting attachments. >>
That's what Photobucket.com is for.
Collector since 1976. On the CU forums here since 2001.