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Craig Watson Medal- question


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This large bronze medal, 62mm 76.6 grams, made by Tiffany is awarded 32 times since 1887 - for outstanding contributions to astronomical sience. This one for Charlier in 1924. My question is: Are these collected ?( like olympic award medals are)

Any clue about market value ? Only 32 pcs should be existing..?

Very grateful for answers/thoughts from experts on this site

chagall12

Kopia_av_USA_Craig_watsonTIFFANY_Medalj_1924.JPG

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Well, my expertise is in a much earlier period but here's a couple of questions:

 

What material is it made from? If it isn't gold I'm hard pressed to figure out why Tiffany would produce a unique piece.

 

My eyes aren't what they used to be; is there something on the medal that indicates it was produced by Tiffany?

 

It's not a particularly attractive medal, (hey, this is from someone that collects really ugly things... :ninja: ) which is neither here nor there but not up to the standards one associates with a name like Tiffany.

 

Clearly the medal is issued by the National Academy of Sciences. Have you contacted them about its history? I'd also ask them about numbers issued and who receives them. How did you acquire it?

 

Medal collectors tend to concentrate on themes or eras that hold interest for them. This is the sort of thing that might interest someone who is also an astronomist or a hobbyist astronomer but it's probably too specialized even for the eclectic crew that haunts this forum. I offer that as a possible explanation for the lack of response.

 

As you can see though we're interested enough as a group to visit the topic over and over, personally I'm curious what you might find out. Good luck! ;)

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Thank you so much elverno

Link to site about craig watson medal here http://74.125.77.132/search?q=cache:5MKa59...ics/James_Craig

Obviously a prestigious price.

Tiffany & co is on end of shoulder. Metal is yellow, not gold of course.

Yes, you might be right, only atronomists might be interested or collect this type of award medal.

Again , very grateful for your comments and breaking the silence

chagall12

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This is my 1st visit to this thread so here goes LOL yes the piece will have a value as people do collect items relating to Astronomy, as for value have you done a search on ebay for similar items?

It will be of interest to three groups of collectors

Genral medal collectors

Astronomy buffs

Tifany collectors

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If you have not seen this LINK you will find it of interest, I hope. Medals with small issues, though of historical interest, which are not collected avidly(compared to napoleonic era medals etc) are therefore of small value to the general collector. Unless placed in the appropriate venue ie specialist auction etc, which might seem a pity, but in fact offers the opportunity for niche collecting at a reasonable price. Value as such can be judge economically, artistically or historically, sometimes all three are high ie the aforementioned napoleonic medals, or any other combination.

 

Nice medal historically, as Elverno pointed out no marks for artistry, as to economic value good luck in finding out, you might find one of the others have been sold previously at auction but even that would be for another recipient which could affect price plus all the other variables. It is not easy finding the value of rare or unique medals as it is for common coins, or even rare coins for that matter.

 

Good luck with your quest :ninja:

 

Editted If there are only 32 medals but only half a dozen collectors price will tend to be very low. A medal, perhaps struck in the hundreds if there are thousands of collectors will be expensive, supply and demand. So rarity in absolute numbers can be very misleading as a guide to economic value.

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