bill

My first genuinely new item (to me) purcahsed since I published my article:

Pond 67 Bronze, 35mm Dieges and Clust, New York about 1000 struck Badge worn at the special session of the Massachusetts General Court to celebrate the Tercentenary. Both the Senate and the House met in session with the governor, state Supreme Court justices, and special guests. The name badge and bar presenting the person's affiliation have been removed from the ribbon at some point in the past.

A recently acquired pinback, not in Pond.

Nine years later, but it kind of goes with the theme of the Boston badge: 1957 Annual Convention in Philadelphia Designed by Julius Windner and Howard A. Davidson Manufactured by August C. Frank & Co., Philadelphia Mintage: 1,122 plus 25 in silver.

1948 Annual Convention in Boston Designed by Henry Schuhmacher Manufactured by Whitehead & Hoag Co.n Newark, N.J. Mintage: approximately 975 A related convention token:

Another Gallery Mint token, this one for the 1995 J.T. Stanton campaign for the ANA Board. The piece pictured here has the Type 2 reverse, the actual release revers. An earlier version proved unworkable. 1,000 were struck in brass and 500 in copper. How can you tell them apart? Always somewhat of a mystery to me when I see pieces labelled copper or brass. In this instance, the photograph on the obverse is from a brass token, the photograph of the reverse is from a copper token. Does that help?

The cotton liner and medals notes are missing from the box. A paper towel was folded up and placed in the box to keep the medal secure. I'm assuming it is the source of the toning. Its since been replaced with an appropriate archival sleeve.

The bean pot is still to come, but first the medal portion of the 1942 badge (ribbon and nameplate lacking): May 2011, I added the full badge to my collection.

The 1999 Exhibitor and Judge's medal was limited to 150 and struck silver. The Minerva head was modeled after the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition $50 gold piece. This particular piece came from the Gallery Mint and could have been a prototype.

I wasn't going to pursue this series in silver as I didn't want to pay the price they normally bring, but I decided to pick them up if reasonable. The one pictured here was reasonable and I figured I needed to have one monster toned silver piece in my collection. A challenge to photograph, but this captures some of what it feels like in hand:

I collect the first few emperors, Augustus to Nero, Roman Republican coins that served as prototypes for Gallic Celtic pieces, the Gallic Celtic coins, and Celt-Iberian. That is enough range of historic and interesting designs to keep me going.

I've got a Boston bean pot still to image and a run of another 7 plus a couple of more to post in the coming weeks. Good fun, thanks for getting me hooked Art.

Chicago 1956 Centennial of the small cent Designed by Vernon Sheldon. Manufactured by Louis J. Imber Co., Chicago Gilt: 2000 Silver 5

The next step is to start noting the stylistic similarities and differences. Some are obvious, some will take a little more work. I almost of a large enough sample to start grouping the medals and beginning to identify the different manufacturers.

Cool!

Possibly a rare store card from Chicago. Only one other piece in my collection is a local small business token:

I've got two more to go after this one in the current round of purchases. Fortunately, they are small and don't take up much space. The image pictured here is from the 1909 Hudson-Fulton celebration.

A few more acquisitions. The first is from Buffalo, New York for Old Home Week, September 1-7, 1907:

Wow, this group presents a difficult choice. The cream did rise to the top in the voting rounds.

Junipero Serra medal showing the California Mission Trail. The medal is serially numbered on the edge with a NY mark, but it does not say Medallic Art. The artist is the same as the other medals, so I believe this is part of or related to the series.

I'm a TAMS member. I've not yet come across an ad for the series in old publications, although I suspect they must be out there somewhere. Heritage had a set of 11 medals, one set in bronze and one set in silver, with the serial numbers around 1460 (mine are in the 640 range). Their catalog description stated that they did not know if the set was ever completed (there were 21 missions) and they attributed them to the 1960s. I've seen a number of Santa Barbara medals and that mission remains popular with many tourists. If they were sold in mission gift shops as well as by subscription, then I would expect Santa Barbara to be common. If they were only sold as numbered sets (such as by subscription), then I might expect them to be equally scarce or common. In any event, they are beautiful examples of the medallic arts.

Medallic Art Co. Struck a series of proof medals commemorating the California missions in the 1960s. The were struck in bronze and silver, brilliant proof, high relief medals. Some may also have been struck in gold, but I have not seen a reference to an actual gold example of any of the medals. Each carries a serial number on the edge. I have bid on silver examples from time to time, but never seriously. I recently had the opportunity to acquire four of the medals in bronze for $5 each. Now I'm on a quest to complete the series, but I do not know for sure how many different medals were issued, although I have found one auction reference to a set of 11 such medals. The lot description stated that the cataloger did not know if the series was ever finished. They follow: Santa Barbara San Fernando Rey San Luis Rey San Rafael The obverse shows an image of the mission and the reverse shows an image of the saint for which the mission was named.

bill; Ursone As; Group 1 http://omnicoin.com/coins/970986.jpg Bronze As of Ursone ca. 50 B.C., Spain. Not the best preserved example, but rare and one of my favorite bears on early coinage.

bill; Castulo Semis; Group 1 http://omnicoin.com/coins/956393.jpg Celt-Iberian Castulo Bull. 1st Century B.C. Semis. Exceptionally well preserved.

bill; Thomas Elder Satirical Token; Group 10 http://omnicoin.com/coins/952567.jpg My favorite satirical token wherein Thomas Elder calls Farren Zerbe an ass by portraying him as a zebra stripped mule.