Is this British Half Sovereign a medal, pattern or something else?

IloiloKano · January 4, 2009 12:57PM

While on vacation over the Holidays, I found this item in an Augusta, Georgia B&M Dealer bargain bin .

The two-by-two slap was labeled '1854 Half Sovrn - Medal', but I didn't think medals had a monetary valuation indicated on them. Perhaps it isn't worth any more than I paid, but I thought I'd take a chance anyway.

It appears to be brass, about 3/4" in diameter, and is quite thin.

Surely someone can tell me what I have here. Many thanks in advance.

farthing · January 4, 2009 2:02PM

This design was a new one for me, though model coinage has been discussed on multiple occasions here. The most common ones that I have seen for sale are model pennies.

Check out This thread or This one for discussions on your particular token.

StubbyMcNumbthumbs · January 5, 2009 8:59PM

I have something similar that I found at a small coin shop here in Adelaide, South Australia about 8-10 years ago. I have since found out it is called a game counter. It too, appears to be made of brass. About the size of a Lincoln cent.

Mine isn't worth much (maybe $15) but kinda cool, nonetheless.

SaorAlba · January 6, 2009 4:38AM

A lot of the "model" coins struck in Britain or in Germany by Lauer were actually play money for Victorian era kiddies. Quite a few of them are rather attractive, and they are always interesting and affordable. I am trying to NOT collect them.

BCNumismatics · January 6, 2009 3:04PM

<< <i>While on vacation over the Holidays, I found this item in an Augusta, Georgia B&M Dealer bargain bin .

The two-by-two slap was labeled '1854 Half Sovrn - Medal', but I didn't think medals had a monetary valuation indicated on them. Perhaps it isn't worth any more than I paid, but I thought I'd take a chance anyway.

It appears to be brass, about 3/4" in diameter, and is quite thin.

Surely someone can tell me what I have here. Many thanks in advance.

>>

Steve,
It is definitely brass.The monarch's titles are not in English on real coinage,& the reverse design is totally wrong.

Aidan.

IloiloKano · January 6, 2009 11:37PM

Thanks to all for the great information. Though I certainly didn't score a coup, I believe it is more than interesting enough to be worth what paid.

lordmarcovan · January 7, 2009 5:28PM

I had a similar "Prince Of Wales Model Half Sovereign" once, though I cannot recall if it had that exact same design or not.

Yours is the first I can recall seeing that had an actual date on it, which is a plus.

How much DID you pay, if you don't mind my asking?

If it was less than ten bucks, you did just fine.

If it was $10-15, you did so-so- maybe overpaid a little but not enough to moan about. I'd not be surprised to see them go on eBay for that much or even more sometimes. I think I got maybe 12 bucks for mine but then again, that could be a memory associated with something else entirely.

It's a neat piece, and the sort of thing I too would pick up from a bargain bin, given the chance. I gravitate towards oddball items like that.

IloiloKano · January 8, 2009 2:39AM

The dealer had it priced fairly, I believe, and I paid $15. I have received that much in value simply from the education and responses received. I bought it for that amount on the chance it could have been something worth much, but with a downside risk of $5 loss or so. If it did not have a date and valuation indicated, I would not have purchased it at all.

If I had seen the item that StubbyMcNumbthumbs posted, that is the model Half Eagle, I would have had no doubt it wasn't extremely valuable, but I would have paid twice as much anyway, especially since I live in California and since his item exhibits a much higher "COOL" factor in my mind.

Again, thanks to all for the informative responses.

Off topic, but likely of interest to lordmarcovan with his metal detecting interest and living in Georgia, I found out over the Holidays that my brother's warehouse sits on top of the old Augusta city dump, which closed in 1892 and was in use from colonial times! Last Summer a tornado ripped up some very large trees by the roots, and my brother pulled a half dozen Bromoseltzer bottles from the roots, (as well as a host of patent medicine bottles), which antique stores in the area were selling for $12 each. Those bottles were on top and from the later days of the dump! Just imagine what might be found if you could dig deeper. My brother turned down a $3500 offer to give a man the right to dig, and I couldn't bring myself to ask my brother for the same opportunity while I was there. I would have been in hog heaven if I could have done so though.

Maybe some day...

lordmarcovan · January 8, 2009 2:46AM

<< <i>If I had seen the item that StubbyMcNumbthumbs posted, that is the model Half Eagle, I would have had no doubt it wasn't extremely valuable, but I would have paid twice as much anyway, especially since I live in California and since his item exhibits a much higher "COOL" factor in my mind. >>

I agree. I have never seen a "model half eagle" like that one. It is curious how much the eagle on it resembles the unofficial half cent tokens of 1837. It is a very interesting piece.

For 15 bucks on the piece you bought, you were in the ballpark. Like I said before, yours is the first of those I have seen with a date on it, though how much relation that date bears to the date it was actually struck, I don't know. (I suspect it's pretty close).

Cool dump story- it sounds like a fun place to go diggin', for sure.

StubbyMcNumbthumbs · January 8, 2009 3:10PM

Thanks, I thought it was cool, too! I actually paid $15 (Australian $) for it. I had never seen anything like it and with the date 1849 and just the look of it, I had to buy it, just in case it was a major find. It was in a coin/jewelry shop and they mostly dealt with just Aussie coins, but had a small selection of "foreign" coins. Almost all their U.S. stuff was WAY overpriced, but I thought, at $15, I can't go too wrong.

The most disappointing thing was/is the lack of information out there about these.

Whatever they're called, they are

!!!

BCNumismatics · January 8, 2009 3:37PM

<< <i>Thanks, I thought it was cool, too! I actually paid $15 (Australian $) for it. I had never seen anything like it and with the date 1849 and just the look of it, I had to buy it, just in case it was a major find. It was in a coin/jewelry shop and they mostly dealt with just Aussie coins, but had a small selection of "foreign" coins. Almost all their U.S. stuff was WAY overpriced, but I thought, at $15, I can't go too wrong.

The most disappointing thing was/is the lack of information out there about these.

Whatever they're called, they are

!!! >>

YOU ARE A MUG! YOU OVERPAID FOR IT!

Aidan.

Is this British Half Sovereign a medal, pattern or something else?

Comments