MEDALS WITH IMAGES OF COINING

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V19 2016 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 19, Number 21, May 22, 2016, Article 20

At the Central States show last month I picked up a copy of the August 2015 issue of The Cincinnati Numismatist. In last week's E-Sylum I excerpted a nice article from that issue about Vail medals. This week we have a piece by John Roberts on collecting medals with images of coining, a great topical collection for any numismatist. Editor Dave Heinrich kindly sent me the text and images for publication. The first image is of a 1876 Medal of Moneta with a screw press by Charles Stubenrauch. Thanks! -Editor

1876 Medal of Moneta with screw press by Charles Stubenrauch

One of the challenges facing any numismatist is to find an area of interest that will hold their attention over a sustained period of time. This can be even tougher for the professionals among us, as what had been a hobby has become work. Recapturing the ‘hobby' aspect of collecting has proven helpful to me for ‘work' as well.

About ten years ago, I acquired a Mexican 1 onza piece. These one ounce silver bullion coins feature a large screw press as its central design.

This extremely common issue set me to wondering about what other pieces might have coining presses on them. With that, a topical collection was born. Over the past decade, I've been fortunate to find a sizable number of pieces. While there have been other coins along with some tokens, banknotes, postcards and even a stamp, the majority of pieces I've found that really fit in are medals.

It's a fringe benefit from work that I'm often at major conventions where I get the chance to wander the bourse floor. I've also found quite a few foreign medals from international sellers on eBay. My buying experience on this venue with this material has been almost entirely positive. Most of the sellers I've dealt with have had spotless feedback and tend to be medal dealers.

1976 Portuguese medal with knuckle joint coining press

There are some reference books that cover medals in general, but I've yet to find works that cover this topic specifically. There's some charm involved with this, as many of my new purchases represent pieces I had no idea existed until I had a chance to buy them. There's a degree of excitement when I hit a new bourse with no idea of what I might find. I've had multiple opportunities to share this particular interest with other collectors, with both club presentations, and show exhibits. Each time, the material has appeared to be well received. One day when my collection feels more complete, I'll likely write a book on the subject, but that's dangerously close to turning what I do for fun into work.