bagerap Posted June 30, 2016 Report Share Posted June 30, 2016 I've recently bought this and I'm not quite sure what I have. The seller gave no indication of size and I was expecting something on the lines of the small "By the Mercy of God" victory medallions. Instead it seems to be a brass copy of the silver war medal issued to all troops at Waterloo. Probably a dug piece, it has been aggressively cleaned at some stage. Brass. 36 x 3.5mm, 28.3 gr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
constanius Posted June 30, 2016 Report Share Posted June 30, 2016 William Wellesley, the Master of the Mint, was commanded to manufacture the Waterloo Medal and planned to strike approximately 40,000 medals in bronze to supply the demand. Work commenced almost immediately on rolling the copper, cutting the blanks and preparing the dies. The task for engraving the medal dies fell upon Thomas Wyon, Jr. After trial strikes of different sizes but similar designs in Bronzes, the final choice was made, at least one of the final design was made in bronze, so there could well have been a few struck in bronze before George Prince Regent decided to have all the medals struck in silver. If yours is brass, not unearthed bronze, perhaps they struck a few in brass to test the dies or for alignment, that does seem improbable as brass is harder to strike than copper which is to be later bronzed, if you think it could bronze well it might not actually be a trial piece but just one of the possible ones struck prior to George's change of mind. The only other options, to my mind at least(if it is brass), is it is a copy or intended as a fake. EDIT https://www.spink.com/research-articles/the-waterloo-medal-nearly-a-bronze-medal.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bagerap Posted July 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2016 Today, we have natural sunlight for a change, so this may be a better image: Having pored over dozens of images of the real thing, I'm starting to think that mine was from the same dies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedeadpoint Posted July 6, 2016 Report Share Posted July 6, 2016 bagerap, is that the same medal in different lighting conditions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bagerap Posted July 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2016 Yes, the latter shot was taken in that rare British condition, sunshine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedeadpoint Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 Yes, the latter shot was taken in that rare British condition, sunshine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bagerap Posted July 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2016 Having tested the density of the material, I now know it to be bronze with a lower tin content (probably around 8%) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
constanius Posted July 24, 2016 Report Share Posted July 24, 2016 That is good news. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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