Big Shoutout to Roger B

[HawkeEye]

I had a chance to reach out to Roger this week to try and solve a mystery with one of the more obscure medals in my collection. I had exhausted every resource I could think of including medal collectors. For those of us who rely on Roger's expertise with research, especially with historical government documents, this is a great example of his skills.

During Covid I started a collection of Comitia Americana medals. I grabbed this unusual John Paul Jones item mainly because it just looked different than anything else I had seen and sometimes these prove to be gems. It turned out to be a gilt medal that so far is a 1/1 with PCGS and none seen by NGC.

cert_40609926_trueview_214738474_Large.jpg (108.65 KiB) Viewed 1258 times

Having exhausted my sources I turned to Roger who solved the mystery in only a few hours. It turns out that in 1843 the Mint offered to gilt medals in their offerings for a small fee. This medal would have been $2.50 plus the gilting fee. It seems that they also offered to make 8 ounce solid gold pieces for $160. I need to do more research to figure out how many were made, but I cannot believe the count would have been very high.

As we end another year we need to stop and thank people within our circle who help make the hobby what it is and maintain the linkage between our history and the items we collect or find fascinating. This one might have remained a mystery for a long time without his help.

A BIG THANKS TO ROGER FOR HIS CONTRIBUTION TO VAMING, BUT ALSO TO NUMISMATICS IN GENERAL!

[keilg1]

Fabulous coin, fabulous story, fabulous help from Roger B.

Thanks for sharing,

Gary

[fogie]

I agree! THANKS everyone for playing and I wish ya all a wonderful holiday season and may next year be the best ya ever had (so far)!!!

[vampicker]

It's a great piece, but I have to ask - did the Philadelphia Mint actually have examples of the Jones medal on hand in the 1840's to offer a gilt version? According to both Julian in 'Medals of the United States Mint' and Adams in 'Comitia Americana' the original dies were still in France (where they were made) at the time and copied dies for domestic use were a later product. Did Philadelphia purchase a supply of Paris struck Jones medals for resale like they did in the 1860's per Julian?
PCGS called the example in question a restrike. Did you happen to note any edge markings before this piece was slabbed?

[HawkeEye]

I am still researching but there is a reference to the French Mint supplying the needed medal inventory to the US Mint during this period. This is reinforced by the Dupree designation on the bust shoulder, because there are references to later dies made in America lacking this feature.

For sure Roger found specific correspondence from the US Mint referencing their ability to do all the Comitia Medals, as struck or gilt. They also offered to make an 8-ounce solid gold medal, which if we had acquired, we might be talking about this from our private jet.

What I am looking for now is some reference to just how many they produced to see if this is a 1/1. It survived in almost perfect condition with zero wear shown after about 175 years. Along the way holders realized it was special.

[RogerB]

I can search my database for any collector who has a question. Sometimes there is information and sometimes not.