bill

An advertising piece for United Cigars. It is struck in brass and high relief. This is a tough piece in the preservation presented here. I got lucky at a coin show when I found this example.

I'll go after it in the same depth as the California Midwinter, but my challenge will be celluloid buttons if I want to count them in a complete collection. The challenge is knowing when I have them all if I am willing to go after them and pay the price. Celluloid buttons were not really around in 1894. One of the events in the midway struck a saloon token and I already know that will be the toughest piece to acquire, much more difficult than the gold set. One piece struck to commemorate Taft will be another elusive piece. But, we'll see. Update: I know of one Taft medal from the AYPE and I have the opportunity to compete for it, but I already know it will be out of my price range. It is also doubtful that I will acquire a silver Utah medal unless I get really lucky one day.

I'll add them when I can. This is one set that I am not ready to sell.

Charbneau so-called dollars and our related research. Promoting the book!

Joseph Mayer & Bros. made a large number of souvenirs for the exposition in addition to selling the official medals. A few examples include: A watch fob: Another watch fob: and a pin:

The set that sparked my interest and started me on this collecting topic. The three pieces are not hard to find, but a set with an original box is a difficult acquisition. These pieces were designed by Jules Charbneau and were likely struck by Joseph Mayer & Bros. in Seattle.

As with other expositions, some states had their own buildings and displays promoting their states. Utah issued a silver and a copper medal available in their exhibit. The silver medal is rare. Copper medals are more readily available: Hibler & Kappan 359 Copper, 38mm Produced by Diegas & Clist. N.Y.

Also posted elsewhere, but repeated for the new thread. The official award medal were all struck in bronze and the text on the reverse changed for Gold, Silver, and Bronze.

Now that my 1894 California Midwinter International Exposition collection has matured, I've decided to tackle material from the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. My interest was sparked by research into Jules Charbneau and Seattle, small gold tokens, and so-called dollars in general. I'll use this thread to post my collection as it grows, much as I have done with the California Midwinter pieces. I'll start with the official medal struck by the U.S. Mint in the Government Building at the Exposition. Joseph Mayer & Brothers were the official distributors of r the medals. Hibler & Kappen 355 Copper, 32mm The reverse of the official medal was also used for a Government Building medal. These were also struck by the mint, but I have not really researched the pieces that thoroughly. Exposition logos were not copyrighted and several companies struck medal with very similar designs. Some are signed, some are not. Hibler & Kappan 364 Brass, 33mm

The Chicago Coin Club was the local host for the 2011 ANA convention this summer. The club issued their own medal for the show: They used the same medal format to create gifts for the Numismatic Theater speakers. I proudly wore mine for the remainder of the convention. The Chicago Coin Club has a lot of class in my opinion.

Okay, so soon after finishing I have the opportunity to acquire an unlisted piece that I never planned on owning as I never planned on having the opportunity to buy one. A fellow collector of Midwinter material decided to sell one of his. So, I present an unlisted silver-plated copy of the "official medal." It is worn, but the plating is obvious. Actually it appears to have been applied with something more akin to a gilting process, a silver wash if you will.

Another large satirical although I do not know where this one was made. Although one maker received a design patent for the basic design, the Secret Service began seizing these satirical medals as counterfeits, as if one might mistake them for a real silver dollar. Cast in type metal, 87mm Schornstein 814 Zerbe -

The last listed so-called dollar that I did not have in my collection. As it stands today, there is one die variety of a listed piece that I do not have in my collection and one shell that I do not have (also an unlisted piece). Otherwise, I now have every listed and unlisted piece known to me. There are two die trials of one piece that I do not own, but they are unique. There is one uniface piece that I do not own that may also be a die trial. It is also unlisted. I know of one, possibly two other pieces that I have never seen and I do not own (by definition). I have only read about them. Finally, there is one token attributed to Chicago that I (and others) believe is from the Midwinter Exposition. It is rare and I do not own one. I have seen one picture. So, I can't close the books on this collection, but it will be a challenge to "complete" it to my satisfaction.

I can add a simulated 1915 badge from San Francisco. I believe only one is known (in the ANA collection). I have the gold-plated official medal from the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition with the loop as sold at the PPIE. These medals were used for the ANA badges. I paired my medal with the ANA picture of its badge. Their picture was in b&w, so I had to approximate the described gold color of the ribbon. I've never seen it so I don't know what it actually looks like. So, allowing for the off-color of the ribbon, a full badge would look like the one pictured here. My medal is the same medal as used for the badges although I have no way if knowing if it actually came from an ANA badge.

Another of the large "silver dollar" satiricals. This one mede in Worchester, Massachusetts. Cast in "type metal" (used printer's type), 85.5mm Schornstein 714 Zerbe -

My interest in Bryan money was sparked by the acquisition of a Whipple Dollar. I love enigmatic pieces and the Whipple Dollar certainly fits the bill. Whipple dollars are gilt bronze embossed shells. They carry the name of C.M. Whipple and Co. of Westfield, Mass., a buggy whip manufacturer. I've just started trying to research Whipple and I believe he was involved in Republican politics in Massachusetts. If that is the case, this piece might be considered an anti-Bryan piece. The issue is complex as not all Republicans supported the gold standard and not all Democrats supported the free coinage of silver. Where you were located in the country and the needs of local business interests had as big an impact on where you stood as did your party affiliation. I believe the Legal Tender inscription is an important clue to deciphering the purpose of these "store cards."

East Coast silversmiths were more dignified in their response to the Bryan plan. They commented directly on the silver value of the U.S. silver dollars. The size in comparison to what a silver dollar wouls be if it contained a full dollar of silver. Some have a cartwheel on one side in the size of an actual silver dollar to make the comparison more immediately obvious. Mine is blank. 52mm Schornstein 7, Zerbe 6 These silver pieces are also collected as so-called dollars. The piece pictured here is listed as Hibler & Kappen 781 This piece is in a large NGC slab. I need to work on making a better photograph.

Agreed that the details are more complex than in my cursory summary. I tried to keep it simple primarily to explain the "16 to 1-Nit." It relates to that original dollar edge inscription or Unit. Bryan and free silver proponents argued that it was the founders' original intent that the silver dollar be the "unit" of American money and hence the edge inscription. I believe the "Crime of 1873" was a reaction to the widening balance between the value of gold and silver and the impact it had on the supply of circulating coins. The Republican response to the free coinage of silver was to tie it to an international agreement to adopt bimetallism and fix the prices of the two metals. Other items that I will include in my new collecting topic are things like Bickford dollars: Dana Bickford proposed creating an international coinage that would save the US government the expenses of recoining foreign coins that came into the country and ease the complexities of money and travel for US citizens. The brass center plug reads, REPUBLICAN DOLLAR INTERNAT'L. It would be gold in an actual currency. The outer ring, aluminum on his medals would be silver in the actual coins. The obverse inscription reads, "This combination coin will when adopted be good in all nations, heal all differences between Gold & Silver men and fully settle all financial questions. Approved by all good businessmen." The mound at the bottom is inscribed, "Gold and Silver." The reverse states, "Here is shown the value of our dollar in the coin of different nations of the world." The eight links read, "Sterling 4.2 Francs 5.20 Kronen 3.80 Gulden 2.8 Marken 4.16 Guilder 2.50 Rouble 9.65 Yen 1.1." The inner ring reads, "Invented and Protected by Dana Bickford." Congress failed to act on Bickford's plan. It was so simple. Go figure.

My latest collecting interest is Bryan Money and other related tokens and medals covering the politics in the wake of the "Crime of 1873." Congress demonetized silver indirectly by eliminating the silver dollar coin and making the gold dollar the nation's standard unit of value. The specifications for minor silver coinage was set in the statutes. A five year depression followed and silver interests urged a return to bimetallism. The 1878 Bland-Allison Act called for expanding silver coinage, but did not restore silver to the same status as gold. Economic problems followed again in 1884 and the 1890 Sherman Silver Purchase Act again failed to restore silver to the same status as gold. More deflation followed as well as the Panic of 1893. Bryan called for the free coinage of silver and gold at the ratio of 16 to 1. The ratio goes back to the founding of the nation and the establishment of the first US coins. The 1794 to 1803 silver dollars carried the edge inscription, HUNDRED CENTS ONE DOLLAR OR UNIT. Of course the ratio of the value of silver to gold changed over time. Free coinage of silver according to the Republican Party meant one could could take 53 cents of silver to the mint and get a dollar in exchange. It was okay for the government to make that profit because the guaranteed the silver with gold, but it was not okay for silver interest to make that profit. Okay, that is an over simplification of the political battles, but it sets the general stage for the political pieces. William Jennings Bryan ran for president on the Democratic ticket in 1896 and 1900 calling for the free coinage of silver at the ratio of 16 to 1. Most of the satirical pieces noted the size that a silver dollar would have to be if it were minted at a ratio that reflected its actual value in relation to gold. Most pieces are "dollars" or dimes ("One Dam"). Some are struck in good silver, most are cast to various blends of pot metal, often the spent type from printing, hence the term "type metal." The first piece here was produced by L. H. Moise in San Francisco. I collect tokens and medals produced by Moise, so it is naturally the first piece for this thread. Zerbe and Schornstein refers to the two standard catalogs for the series. There is not much difference between the two except that Zerbe's appeared in a 1926 issue of the Numismatist and leter reprints had become hard to find. The Schornstein book was published by the Token and Medal Society in 2001, has better images, is readily available, but otherwise does not add much new to what Zerbe originally published.

My latest. I suspect it dates to 1895 to 1900 or so. and one on a 1909 Orengemen Badge (whoever they are): I have not yet had any luck discovering who the Orengemen might be. It might be the Irish Protestant Orangemen, but I am not certain.

Beautiful medals. The only way a collector can acquire award medals for their collection is when they come on the open market. The few that have, generally bring big bucks compared to what I have been spending on my collection. Anyone have a Smedley award to post. I love the design of that award and have been outbid the two times I have seen them for sale. Oh yeah. Congratulations on your awards. I love the exhibits and really appreciate the work that goes into them. I write as my form of exhibiting, primarily because I have never been talented enough to pull off something that matches the exceptional quality of the exhibits at the ANA level.

It depends on how you count his listings. But my spread sheet has 67 entries for possible items and I have acquired 40 to date. They are getting harder to find even though they may not be the most expensive.

I have some things backed up while I've been writing. One of these days I'll get back to the collection. Yes, things are starting to get more expensive as I try to fill in some of the earlier material.

The medals I have in my book include: Father Serra (this is not the US Mint medal struck in 1964). San Antonio de Padua San Gabriel San Luis Obispo San Juan Capistrano San Buenaventura Santa Barbara San Jose San Miguel San Fernando San Luis Rey San Raphael Empty holes in my book: San Diego San Carlos San Francisco Santa Clara La Purisima -- existence confirmed (11/6/11) Santa Cruz Soledad -- existence confirmed (11/6/11) San Juan Bautista Santa Inez San Francisco de Solano