"I will be interested in seeing the other 2 you procured."

The other five, and hopefully six if I win your auction.

Here's a medal that is a bit of a mystery. At first glance it appears to be a Richter #1130b, 1911 Olten, 23mm silver and one of 440 produced.

But there is the letter "A" in the diamond on the obverse, and the 1130b, according to Richter, has no letter.
The Richter #1131a does have the "A" in the diamond but was only struck in gold. So this medal is a bit of a mule.



I would jump at the chance to purchase the gold companion to this and have a matching set.

Here is my 1895 Winterthur which Rod details nicely on the previous page of this thread.



Mine has toned a bit more than Rod's. The details here are amazing, and the medal has no flaws that I can find.

And here's an 1892 Glarus (Richter #808b) that appears to have been cleaned a bit but still has strong AU/UNC details.



Richter values this at $180 in UNC, I'll guess this is probably still worth about $120. I may sell it on eBay to concentrate on the Holy Freres medals.

Fifty-five of these were struck in gold (#808a) and are worth $3500 in MS condition. Try finding one...

Richter #1183, 1910 Gossau from the Canton of St. Gallen. 1450 were struck in silver and these are currently worth $40 in VF and $120 in UNC.



This one grades a decent VF, and the price was right. I think I like these smaller (this is 27mm) medals more than the full size 45mm ones. Sometimes less is more.

Richter #239b, 1899 Langenthal from the Canton of Bern. 30mm, 850 struck in silver, currently worth $40 in VF and $120 in UNC.



And I see I won your auction Rod...

hiho,

As an FYI, The medals with the incused 'A' are more common than the ones without. The mintage figures that Richter states are only for those without the 'A'

As good as a reference Richter's book is, there are many errors throughout. Which based on the sheer volume of the book is probably not that bad.

We are not positive but the medals with the 'a' are probably restrikes after 1911 (this is not a known fact)
The medals that are with the 'a' are more common and would/should be considered common based on Richter's classifications. In the forty plus years my Dad has collected and the 20 years I've been collecting, the ones with the 'a' are quite common place.

On another note:
Congratulations on winning the medal. We hope you like it, please let me know after you recieve it...

Rod

It does make perfect sense that the "A" branded medals were restrikes, I'm still glad I bought it though.

And yes, I have found two other Holy Freres related errors (omissions) in the Richter book. Again, still glad I bought it.

I'm easily pleased...

A new medal I won from Rod's father's auction...




Richter #272, a 1912 Herzogenbuchsee from Bern. About the size and weight of an American nickel at 24mm.
A beautiful uncleaned silver example, thank you Mr. Moore.

This medal was a joint collaboration between Holy Freres and Linck, this "team" also created the Richter #272 and #275.

A finders fee for anyone who can locate for me a Richter #270, the 1912 Bumpliz, one of the scarcer Holy Freres creations.
The name speaks for itself...

Another medal purchased from Rod, a gorgeous 1920 oval Luzern pinback.
36mm x 26mm, silver, engraved by Burger. Catalogs at $150 in VF and $280 in UNC.




Richter #894, scarcity rating RR, my rarest Schutzenfest medal by far.

A beautiful 1911 Basel (Richter #133) from a Swiss dealer. Worth about $40 in VF and $120 in UNC.




Hans Frei designed this medal as well as the beautiful R132 (1909 Basel) and the R134 (1914 Sissach)
If it takes a lifetime I will own an R132.
Love the basilisk.

And a nice 1906 Ruti (Richter#1792c) from Zurich engraved by Holy Freres. Worth about $25 in VF and $75 in UNC.
1000 were struck in silver and 70 in gold. I would jump at the chance...




With a dab of well aged Swiss dark chocolate on the reverse. At least I hope it's chocolate...

Hi - I'm new to this site and am not sure what I'm doing and I'm not sure I'm even in the right place.
Please feel free to let know if I've messed up.

I have five (5) of these Swiss Shooting Medals - or at least that's what I think they are from what I've seen on this site. My father collected many things over the years and my brother and I found these 5 medals in a box after he passed away. Due to the fact that my brother and I are not interested in collecting them, we are looking for advice on where we should go to sell them.

The years of the medals I have are: 1681, 1887, 1890, 1894, and 1896.

Can anyone helpe me?
Thank you in advance for your help!

first things first. I'm sure that some of the peop's here might be interested in your medals, dependent on what they actually are and the condition they are in. Why don't you get scans / images of them and post them so we can see for ourselves and take it from there? Happy to give advice as to the various means of disposing of them ranging from selling them direct to collectors, selling them via auction (ebay for example), or suggesting dealers you might want to try (dependent on where on the planet you are based).

Ian

Ian -

Thank you so much for your reply. I did try to post some of the pictures that I have taken of these medals.
But obviously, I don't know what I'm doing. I tried to post the pictures as attachments and when I try to do that - it says that even one picture is too large for the space available.

Is there a way to put the pictures in this post, rather than as an attachment?

I'm sorry that I'm not better at this.
Sharon

Sharon -

If you register with Photobucket (www.photobucket.com) you can upload the photos to them and then use the IMG code they supply to post them here.
You can resize photos there as well. 640x480 works well here, or 800x600.

It's free and pretty easy to use. And you'll get better at this the more you do it.

We're a fairly patient lot and won't make fun of you. If you have questions just ask...

I'm quite interested in seeing a photo of the 1681 medal, which is most likely a coin.

Hi Sharon,

Have a look at the main page under `site information and technical support' for appropriate guidance.

Probably the best way to do this is post your images to a webpage first. You can join omnicoin.com free and use it as a `host' for your coin / medal images. Once you have your images posted there you just need to `link' the images to your posts on coinpeople.com.

First things first though. Get your images onto a webpage or image hosting site like omnicoin. I'm sure the section of coinpeople i've mentioned above will enable you to find out how to 'link' the images from there, failing which we can talk you through it here. It's an easy process and anyone (once you know how) can do it in seconds.

Ian

Hi hiho -

I'm glad you mentioned photbucket because I already had my pictures in there and per your advice - I just resized them to 640x480.

And it looks like I've figured out how to get them in here.

So I guess at this point - I need to know for sure what they are, what they might be worth, and where I might go to sell them.

I appreciate any and all help,
Sharon

They are all Swiss shooting medals and of different values.

I know it sounds twee, but they are worth whatever you can get someone to part with for them.

I don't have a concept of current market values in a pure collectors market but If you were to put them on ebay you might get anywhere between $60 - $120 for the silver ones and perhaps a bit less for the bronze / copper ones. Maybe more on a good day when the right collectors were around....., but maybe significantly less too when the collectors are sleeping. the last one I bought on ebay was only a matter of a few weeks ago, and I only paid 26.5 euro ($42).

If you were to approach dealers with your medals, you need to realise that they will make an offer that then enables them to make a reasonable profit from selling them on to their client collectors.

I have to declare that I have a vested interest though, as I would be interested in making you an offer outside of this forum (i'm not a dealer). Not knowing where on the planet you are based it is difficult to suggest appropriate dealers you might want to check out (?)

I have to say that your medal is dated 1891 and not the 1681 you had thought. An easy mistake to make though.

Ian

Hi Ian -

I've heard the saying "it's only worth what someone will pay you for it". LOL.....

And I do know that an item has a certain value to a collector, if he's looking for a particular item and a different value to a dealer, because of resale.

I am from Northwest Ohio, USA.

I see what you mean about the date that I thought was 1681. I was reading in the direction the words were written in. After you told me about the error - I looked at it closer and see that the date is turned the other way. Sorry for my mistake.

Thanks for your assistance,
Sharon

Sharon -

Excellent photos, and happy to see you didn't try to clean these.

When I get home from work today I'll look up your medals in my Richter book and post their catalog numbers and values here.

1891 Bern Kantonal Schutzenfest

Richter #215
Franz Homberg

a- Silver 45mm
1656 struck
$60 VF / $200 UNC

b- Bronze 45mm
1380 struck
$40 VF / $120 UNC

Looks silver and UNC (or AU+) and has some remarkable toning.


1894 Bern Thun Kantonal Schutzenfest

Richter #228
Franz Homberg

a- Silver 45mm
1452 struck
$60 VF / $200 UNC

b- Bronze 45mm
724 struck
$40 VF / $120 UNC

I think it’s silver, it is AU with nice even toning.


1896 Geneva Shooting Exposition

Richter #691
Hugues Bovy

a- Silver 47mm
966 struck
$60 VF / $180 UNC

b- Bronze 45mm
1202 struck
$40 VF / $120 UNC

If this was gold it would be worth a fortune.


1890 Thurgau Frauenfeld Schutzenfest

Richter #1250
Hugues Bovy

a- Gold 45mm (69.3 grams!)
119 struck
$1500 VF / $3500 UNC

b- Silver 45mm
5760 struck
$60 VF / $150 UNC

c- Bronze 45mm
4500 struck
$30 VF / $80 UNC

Looks bronze and UNC to me. A popular medal.


1887 Geneva Federal Shoot

Richter #628
Hugues Bovy

a- Gold 45mm (76 grams!)
12 struck
Scarcity rating RRR
Basically worth as much as a new Audi or BMW with money left over for gas, even at $5 a gallon…

b- Silver 45mm
39030 struck
$50 VF / $150 UNC

d- Bronze 45mm
4354 struck
$40 VF / $120 UNC

Looks like you have a bronze medal here, UNC except for the two light dings on the cross.



Nothing really super rare here, more a nice mini-Schutzenfest collection of uncleaned Hugues Bovy and Franz Homberg medals in excellent condition.

Thanks for posting the photos here!

Hi hiho -

Thank you for the information. It will be very helpful in my quest to sell these medals.

Have a Wonderful Day!
Sharon

No worries, always happy to share whatever knowledge I might possess.

Everyone here seems to share what they know and as a result we as a forum can usually identify almost any coin ever minted from a photo.
Usually within a few hours.

It's quite amazing actually.

Here's a new medal purchased from Rod Moore, a 1907 from Stans in Nidwalden.
Richter #1032, 23mm, silver, only 520 struck. Engraved by Holy Freres.
Worth about $50 in VF / $150 in UNC.




A real beauty.

yep! that's definitely a beaut!

Thanks Ian. You are a man of impeccable taste.

I have three more medals to post here that just arrived from Switzerland, including a pretty rare gold Schutzenfest medal that will knock your socks off.

Stay tuned...

1906 Langnau (Bern)
Richter # 257a
23mm silver
1447 struck
Engraved by Holy Freres

40 VF/120 UNC in silver
80 VF/200 UNC in brass




I couldn't ask for a nicer example.

1903 Biel (Bern)
Richter # 251a
45mm silver
693 struck
Engraved by Holy Freres

60 VF/180 UNC in silver (251a)
100 VF/250 UNC in brass (251b)




Uncleaned and I find the toning on the bottom of the city view to be quite attractive.

1910 Bern
Richter # 263a
28mm gold (13.8g)
400 struck
Engraved by Holy Freres

250 VF/400 UNC (based on 2005 gold prices)





The very first Swiss shooting medal I bought years ago was this in silver, and I still have it.
To be able to find one in gold, especially in this condition, was a real treat.
Right now this is sitting on my nightstand so I can look at it every day.
When the sunlight hits it just right it lights up like the Holy Grail.

Thanks to Rod Moores dad for these three medals.

I'm very happy to hear you are enjoying your new acquisitions hiho.

My Dad and I love the hobby and also enjoy passing along any information we can regarding schützenfest items.

I am very happy to have you participating in our every other Friday auctions, I hope you have found them beneficial and enjoyable!

schutzenfester

Your auctions have been the highlight of my summer...

I'm finding the best way to really study my coins and medals is to take high resolution photos of them which I then use as a computer background for a few weeks.
You discover new things when you see them living large every single day.

I recently noticed that Holy Freres signed this on the bottom left of the medal...


While they signed this silver one centered...


I sold that medal long ago but dug out another that I bought at the same time, and I'm pleased to report that I have one of each type in silver.
Now I need to find another gold one signed in the center, assuming one exists. My work never ends...

I also have two new medals to show off, an incredible 1911 Lenzburg from Aargau that looks like it was struck yesterday, and a VERY rare 1908 Faido from Ticino that is on the way. I am currently working 56 hours a week until the Olympics end, then the Democratic and Republican Conventions begin, but I'll forego some sleep and post some photos soon.

Guys, I love looking at your pictures. Thanks for sharing all of them. If I had more time and $$ I'd definitely explore this area in person. In the meantime, keep those pics coming

It would take a court order to stop me posting photos of my medals.

Thanks for the support DP!

1911 Lenzburg (Aargau)
Richter # 33a
28mm silver
534 struck
Engraved by Holy Freres

40 VF/120 UNC

This came in it's original case and the details in the womans hair are quite amazing.

1908 Faido (Ticino)
Richter # 1441a
45mm silver
125 estimated struck
Engraved by Holy Freres

200 VF/400 UNC

Richter gives this a scarity rating of RR yet I have been told it's probably more like a RRR.
(RR = Very Rare, RRR = Less than 10 examples known to exist)




My lazy postman never left a delivery notice when he tried to deliver this so it sat at the Post Office for a month while I worried.
And worried. And worried. All well that ends well though, right?

Very difficult to photograph the portrait side of this medal. NONE of my pics were in focus. That's odd.

1905 Olten (Solothurn)
Richter # 1127a
45mm silver
505 estimated struck
Engraved by Holy Freres

60 VF/180 UNC





This may well be my favorite Holy Freres design, certainly top 5 out of 50+ at the very least.

All of these medals came from Rod Moore's father. Thanks again RM!

I love that these medals feature a gorgeous background with a fair maiden in the foreground. Who is the girl in each case? Is she a Swiss legend like America's Columbia or Britain's Britannia? Why do they always feature a mountain/valley setting? Are those the villages?

As always, love the pics and maybe one day I'll love the medal myself.

Must say Hiho, I am LOVING these medals!

Just don't get me hooked, I'm bad enough with my hammereds!

The fair maiden is usually Helvetia, the female personification of Switzerland.
(Americans have Lady Liberty, the English have Britannia, the French have Marianne, and the Swiss have Helvetia.)

Sometimes though the fair maiden was a local lass dressed in the traditional garb of the town where the Schutzenfest was held.

Rod, please correct me if I am wrong.

Oh, now I remember. Thanks! Also, so each town pictured was the host town for Schutzenfest. Was this an annual festival or an event that each town may host on its own during a summer?

Hiho,

You are for the most correct IMHO. By looking at medals with a woman represented you will notice that the woman depicted on Swiss schützenfest medals look different from medal to medal most of the time. Helvetia is likely the main character but as you stated other women (A Swiss woman) is the primary candidate. The French Marianne, U.S. Lady Liberty and U.K. Britannia almost always look the same on the various medals.



thedeadpoint,

Many times the scene depicted is the locality where the shoot was held or a local landmark. Schützenfests were held as Federal, Cantonal, Regional and City events. The Federal (Country wide) was yearly and attracted thousands of people. Cantonal (state) were as widely attended by the public. Shoots in general were the high point on the calendar for the populous at the time. Hundreds of thousands of Swiss francs commonly comprised the value of the shoot's awards.

The participants were awarded a wide range of items for awards for placing in different levels of the various shoots as well as for participating. Somewhat common awards were medals; however the mintage of medals compared to coins makes them rare. The most common form of award is the shooting decoration; these are seen on eBay commonly and can be most easily described as looking like a formal military award that is pinned on a person chest.

Before a shoot, committee members would solicit local shop keeps for prizes (usually custom made) to be awarded at the shoot. These awards can range from silver services, clocks, watches, guns, currency in displays, statues, cups and the list goes on. As stated above most of these types of awards made by local vendors were custom made and had some type of attribution to the specific shoot.

Wow. Lovely. Thanks, Schutz. I really am interested in these but won't have the money for them anytime soon.

Here are two eamples of a beautiful shooting medal albeit common. The first in bronze and then the same medal in silver.

It is Richter 228/Martin141
1894 Thun, Bern
45mm
Bronze, 1,452 examples
Silver, 724 examples
Engraver: Franz Homberg, Bern

hiho,

Here is R228 without the 'Diamond A' like your medal.

1911 Olten, Solothurn
Silver, 23mm
Holy Freres, St. Imier

Here is an example of a German shooting award.

It is from a shoot in Rothenburg, July 3, 1907 and was awarded to the Schutzen Konig.

The award is in perfect condition with toning and no detractions. I have never seen another like it and thought everyone might enjoy seeing it-

Here is R87/M53; Basel 1844, 38mm, engraved by Antoine Bovy of Genf.

Although this medal is relatively common in silver and bronze, here is an example of it gold plated. In Richter, it is identified as bronze, gold plated but my example is stamped Cuivre (copper) on the rim edge, as most likely all the gold plated examples are.

In all our years of collecting, my Dad (47 yrs.) and I (28 years) had never seen a gold plated example of this medal until I was able to purchase it a few years ago and am very happy to own it.

Very nice Rod.
If you ever want to sell it please let me know...

Here is a picture of an extremely rare medal from Murten.

Canton: Fribourg
Locale: Murten
Type of Shoot: Schutzen Gesellschaft Von Murten
Year: 1843 (without loop)
Metal: Silver
Size: 39mm

Richter #401, Martin #215

I recently aquired new software and was able to put the previous Murten medal in a new and nice (imho) presentation...Somewhat the same as above but I was able to expand upon that original.

Fantastic photo Rod, care to tell us how you got the reflections and shadows?

Looks like something from a Heritage auction catalog...