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Mike 's Blog

21 Mar 2023

The Statue Of Liberty

Medals | Mike

Ok my friends. This is the third attempt to write this blog. The third time is a charm! ....Now I went to write this on February 8. Instead I wrote on the reverse. That is how much history this medal has. This is probably one of the greatest statues known.Its on coinage . There must be a million different souvenirs out there. .....The Statue of Liberty Enlightening The World! This was a gift from the French. It was dedicated on October 28,1886. It became a national Monument in 1924. It was designed and built by a few people Frederic Auguste Bartholds. The frame work was done by Gustave Eiffel. Now the statue has seven rays coming from her head they stand for the seven seas and the seven continents. The idea of this statue came from a French historian Eduardo de Labulaye at the close of the civil war.There are many symbols on the statue. The famous poem you all know the end . Give me your tired etc...If you enlarge the bronze plate you can read the whole thing. The writer was Emma Lazarus. The medal was made by the Medallic Art company. There is a massive chain at her feet it is broke at a point. It means we broke from oppression to become a Democracy. The book that she holds has our date of Independence done in Roman numerals. The torch such brings light to the world. By the way it gets hit hundreds of times by lightning during the year. The photo below is one of the most dramatic.Look at the details on the obverse. The small ships the two bridges and the buildings as it would be seen in 1965. ...Of course there were many problems building this massive statue. The weather took its toll and it had to be rebuilt. Kids sent cents donations came from everywhere to keep this beacon of freedom shining its light. Now I left out the politics because there was so much and this is a blog about a statue! I will give you the break down . It was made of Bronze, its weight is 111.9 Diameter is 63.5 and the thickness is 5.2 in. Now I will try and save this. I hope you get to enjoy it. It stayed up!. Wow I hope Pete finds the problem. Please if you get a chance read about this statue. I can't count on the coinage and medals its on. It is a very big reminder of our history. Read Feb 8 blog. Its on the reverse. Plenty of history on this entire medal.They also say the face is that of a pagan god!!And surrounded by 13 stars. One of the best thought out medals including the historical reverse!! Please enlarge the picture of the bronze plate you can read the whole thing!!

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08 Feb 2023

The Reverse of a the Statue of Liberty Commemorative 1965.

Medals | Mike

Hi everyone hope all is well. I picked up this medal many years back. I wasn't looking into them but this one was special. Not only does it honor the Statue of Liberty but the reverse honors the Federal Hall National Memorial! Don't stop there That's when New York was Named the Capitol of the U.S.!! Now there is one more thing on this medal it honors the building were Gen. George Washington gave his Inauguration speech as President!! How much more do you need on a medal. I think it was done very well. Now the Spanish and the French were constantly fighting with each other. Sending explorer's to the east coast of the new world. But the Dutch snuck in their also. But first Giovanni da Verrazzano sailing for the French discovered the land called New York today in 1524. Soon to be claimed by the Dutch first land claim in 1609. It seems everyone was looking for N.Y. It gets better. The next explorer was a navigator named Henry Hudson . Lets go back for a small mistake in history. New York built the Longest Expansion bridge in the world at the time and named it after Mr. Verrazzano. Beautiful bridge. This was starred in the 1960's. Here we go it was opened for more than fifty years when someone noticed they spelt his name wrong!!! All the big signs and the little ones wrong. Only in N.Y. Gov. Cuomo had it changed! Cost a ton of money. It connects Brooklyn to Staten Island.. Sorry I had to get that in. Now the Dutch named it New Amsterdam. Now in 1653 it came under British rule. In 1664 it was named New York after king Charles 11 of England granted all the land to his brother the Duke of York. Now you can't be sure I left someone outl it became the 11 State in 7/26/1788. There is one more. Peter Minuit bought it from the Indians in1626 for 24 dollars in fur and other items not trinkets. He named it New Amsterdam One other date I came across Lincoln was not the first to want an end to slavery. It was Benjamin Franklin on February,3,1790. Just had to add that I thought it was interesting! So if you can make all this out your doing better than I am. Please tap on the medal you can see everything it honors! I think I paid 10.00. But it had so much history I just had to have it. Take care stay well.

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17 Jan 2023

1876 - Dated J-CM-11 AE58 mm Bown 64

Medals | Mike

Hi everyone. Well this is the third attempt to put this blog up. It gets frustrating so I tried a message and it stayed. Lets see. ..Eric Newman a great collector writer and just about anything else you can add was a great man. He once said "I do not collect medals they have no monetary value." Well he missed this one!! .....First the label.1876 year it was made. J-CM-11 AE 58mm . Now I found most of it. The J stands for R.W Julian. He wrote a book called Medals of the United States Mint 1792-1892. The CM. stands for Commemorative Medal the 11 is a guess that its listed as number 11 or on page 11? Its also 2/4 in diameter. ..The obverse reads in commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary of American Independence act of congress1874. The reverse reads 1776 these colonies are free and of right ought to be free and Independent states! ...Now they made 7000 of this medal bronze,2100 of copper and 583 of white medal. They came in sets and sold for 11.00 There is one known made of gold. The fourth medal was gilt metal. ..The obverse has Lady Liberty placing wreaths on two figures. One stood for industry and the other art. The reverse has Lady Liberty holding a sword in her right hand. And her left arm reaching towards the 13 stars. ...The medal was designed by William Barber. He hit a home run with this one. Its historic and beautiful. The first Mono rail was shown here! This what we would call a worlds fair today was very big. It was on 3,136 acres. Held in Philadelphia. Countries from all over the world would have A tent or a building to show that newest inventions. It was visited by tens of thousands of people. ..As soon as I saw it at an auction I knew I had go have it. I knew nothing about it but I could tell of its beauty and meaning . So I placed a bid and woke up a winner. One bid. I don't know how people passed this by. There are only 24 higher in this grade. So again I was lucky. Coin collecting can be lucky. Sometimes its like playing the market. .I hope you enjoyed this blog. If its doesn't take I give up!

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14 Dec 2022

Encampment Of The Grand Army of The Republic

Medals | Mike

Hi everyone. Hope all is well. I came across this medal and was very curious. I started to look it up. I couldn't find it anywhere. Why? Well its not a medal its a Badge as it was called. The Grand Army of the Republic use to have encampments! It was a basically a reunion of all those who survived or were wounded during the civil war. It was founded in 1866. The badge below is from the 1894 reunion in Pittsburgh. They had medals also. Many different types.This was the 28 encampment. ...Now they had these every year. It ended in 1949. There were 16 members left. It was dissolved in 1956.The last one was in Indianapolis, Indiana. The last member was Albert Woolson He died in 1956 at the age of 109. The whole encampment idea was started by Benjamin F. Stephenson. Now on the back you see allot of words. It has numbers also. It starts 40,9745. Soldier's Entertained in this Hall. 7,9460 sick. The other side says Wounded Provided For At Soldier's home 499205. Now this is something I had never herd of. They would parade through the streets and every survivor was taken care of. The numbers tell the story. They didn't forget what happened. They met friends from different battles. They would laugh and they also cried over there friends that had passed. I think this was a wonderful idea. Even those who couldn't make it were taken care of. And it led up to a day called Memorial Day. The two coins are imporrtant. The first one is from Gettysburg . It has a statement from Joshua Chamberland the hero of Little Roundtop!. The second coin is Antietam. The bloodiest day in our country's history. The first Badge is of one that was taken care of.the second is mine. It has the city's crest in the middle the third one is what the whole badge looked like. And the last one is the reverse of mine. So they took good care of there soldiers. We remember them all the time. But this was them taken care of each other. I hope you enjoyed this little bit of history. Thanks Mike.

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18 Oct 2022

How I Learned To Make A Medal

Medals | Mike

Hi everyone !! Hope all is well!! Let me tell you the basics of how this came to be.. I am a member of the Ancient Order Of HIBERNIANS. Who are they? Well we were formed when Britain was killing the Irish People back centuries ago. When the price of a Priest head was the same as an Irish Wolf Hound.

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28 Jan 2022

WESTMINSTER ABBEY

Medals | Mike

Hi everyone. Well the snow is coming so I decided to write a blog on an item that I have not seen in a long time on this site. Medals The medal below I last wrote about four years ago. Only three people are still here. The contents will be different. The medal was made by a very famous medal maker . Jacques Weiner. He was the oldest of three brothers all excellent engravers. Now this was made in 1856. He had made thirty before this. He decided to do a series on fifty cathedrals in Europe. Things were going well. But when he came to the 41 medal he had lost his sight from all the detail he put into his work. I saw this on a Heritage Auction. No one was bidding. Then again most people don't collect medals and there were plenty to choose from. I saw the price and said I'm not winning this. I put a bid in and won!! Now he liked to write history on his medals. The bottom reads St. Peters church Founded about 612 rebuilt and erected an Abbey 958-1049. Now the left reads The present church constructed 1220-1285 restored end of the XV11 centurty. Now the right side reads Westminster Hall built 1397and the chapel of Henry V11 commenced 1503. Now that saved me allot of reserch. The name Hoydonk was the name of the person who researched Wieners medals. His full name was Emil Van Hoydonk.Now Jacques Weiner lived in Belgium. Born in 1815 died 1899. Now his two brothers did very well. His brother Charles became the assistant engraver at the Royal mint. His brother Leopold was appointed first engraver to the Belgium mint. A very talented family. There work commands good prices.

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26 May 2021

The Smallest Biggest Medal

Medals | Mike

Hi everyone. A couple of weeks ago I saw a medal of Abraham Lincoln. It was at an auction. I will describe the medal I saw. It was made of copper 7.28 gm and 35mm. It came in three sizes they had two. The weight by the way includes the ribbon . He is facing right. The obverse reads centennial of Abraham Lincoln MCMIX. Also the designers name is under his neck. B.L.Pratt in small letters above the year. Who by the way studied under Augusta St. Gaudins. And also made the U.S. Gold 5 Indian Head... Now that's just the beginning. The reverse has an eagle with outstretched wings with an Olive Branch in his talons. Then the famous words. He had many but they chose these. "The Government of The People By the People Shall Not Perish From the Earth" Under that there is a Fasces. A Fasces comes from the Latin word meaning bundle. Bundles of wooden slats sometimes with an axe and the blade being seen.. The medal itself is uncirirculaded and has a beautiful Patina on it. Now that's allot for a small medal. The Fasces goes back to the Romans you will see it in other coins. It is rapped most of the time in leather. Now it came in the original cardboard holder with plastic protecting it. This is from 1909. It has gold embossed lettering on the face. See picture bellow. In the reverse of the holder there is a typed message. It reads "Official Medal Issues by the State Of New York Under Authority of George W. McClellen Mayor of New York Febuary12,1909. (Medal Designed By Bella Lyon Pratt)." Now you didn't expect this beautiful medal to take so much time to describe. But big things come in small packages. This medal was taken care of. Yes the holder is beat up a little if look how old it is. It's actually in great shape for its age. It did it's job I just wish I had the name of the person who owned this. It was made at the Whitehead & Hoag company in New Jersey. The designer Pratt lived from 1 867 to May 18 1917. Now my feelings. Medals come in all sizes and shapes. Here we have a small medal that contains so much history. It truly is a piece of our country and history When I saw it I thought it was a cent with a ribbon. Then I read the description. I couldn't believe it. You have Lincoln and the words he

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18 Apr 2021

They Asked Me To Make A Medal!

Medals | Mike

I hope everyone is well. Now i was going thru some coins and found this medal. I knew I had written a blog on this year's ago. I went back and read it. It was awful. So I decided to write the right way.! Years ago I belonged to the Ancient Order Of Hibernians. It is an ancient order formed in 1565 by Rory Oge O'Moore.. He organized it because the BrItish were cutting the heads of Catholic Priest which was the same price as the head of the Irish Wolfhound. They say a light left on at night meant it was a safe house for.a.Priest. Now our 175 anniversary in the United States was coming up. There thinking was it you collect coins you know how to make them!.So i was volunteered to make this medal. I had no idea were to start. I knew we needed an obverse and a reverse with meaning. So i contacted our Nation Historian. Mike McCormick.. He was the best. I contacted Tom McSorley to help me with phone calls.. I called the Highland mint since I did business with them before. They were very helpful. I thought they would ask for a sculpture . You don't know what they need.Mike did his research and came up with many designs. We would disagree on this one and that one. Then he found the obverse. The American Flag and The Irish Flag from centuries before. We agreed. He added the Celtic cross above the shaking hands. Our motto Friendship ,Unity ,Christian Charity. The ribbon A.O.H. The date May 4, 1836. Now I sent it to the mint. Here was the learning part. He taught me about making the dies. How deep did we want it ? What type metal. I knew some of the process. So I just said yes. The reverse was easy . We were formed in Philadelphia and New York the same day!.So the Liberty Bell and the Statue of Liberty. Heritage and Homeland. 175 for the years. Born in Liberty in English and Gaelic.. The dates on the bottom. This did not take a week. It took months. We disagreed and agreed.The phone calls to the mint . What size do we send. Color or black and white. I asked the mint if I could have four medal made in silver proof. No problem no charge and numbered. The label says 2011 Medal.Ancient Order Of Hibernians #0002. 1OZ .999 silver PF 68 DCAM. This sounded easy but just can tell you this took six or seven months. I learned so much . From beginning to end. We ordered bronze.10,000. Now it cost if I remember 3.50 each. Or 4.00. We charged 25.00. Don't forget at this point we still defend the clergy. .But we raised funds for.charity.Any charity . . We write the checks. Everyone benifits. We never have said no to a legitimate charity. We're very proud of that. So that's an idea of some of the things . How many ? How much? Mailing, cost of shipping records. And the medal.. It's just not drawing a circle. You need a very sharp design. It couldn't be hand drawn. Putting it all together on a computer. So I saw it through. The affects of my accident had got to bad. My decades of service had to end. They did make me a life member. I had done many things for the Order. This was one of the highlights. Thanks hope you enjoyed it!So to Michael McComick who did the most. The research. He did us well with his knowledge. Without it we would still be working on it.!

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13 Feb 2021

Rachel Louise Carson

Medals | Mike

Hi everyone . I hope your all fine and well. I know the first question . Who was Rachel Louise Carson. She was a great woman and a fighter her whole life to clean up the envirment. That movement didn't start ten or twenty years ago. It started with this great author and marine biologist. She was born May 27,1907 she passed on April 14,1964. But what did she do she started work on the Global Environment movement. She wrote a book called Silent Spring. Her most famous and well read book.. As I said she started as a marine biologist. She moved on to the other problems facing the world.Her career started at the U.S Bureau of Fisheries and became a full-time author in the 1950's. Then she turned to conservation and the main problem being pesticdes. You see now what I mean when I say this movement didn't start twenty or thirty years ago. She took on the problems and immediately took on major compaines. She testified before.Senate subcommittee. The book Silent Spring was written in 1962. Her best writing. She went after the companies making pesticides such as D.D.T.. She never backed down and it led to a national ban on this dangerous chemical. This one person . This one woman. Took on the giants of industry. This led to The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Who says one person can't change things. Many famous individuals have. Now her first story was written t the age of ten. To list her publications they would all have to do with with issues dealing with environmental issues. This magnificent died of a heart attack caused by cancer. Some say from studying and learning about the damage these chemicals caused. The rivers and oceans. P!ants that we need to grow and live on. Her posthumous honors could fill a book on its own. That's because this woman changed the way we live todayl! Over the globe. Companies dumping waste into rivers and oceans killing fish fry the thousands. Where did I get this medal about this wonderful woman.? From the AN.A. I think there still for sale. The medal was designed by a gentleman named Don Everhart. It's 71kmm 142 grms. Just look at the design. The American Eagle with its catch. Her likeness with a farm ,deer an eagle in flight a butterfly a river and a forest. Every thing she worked for. So we could live a life today without poisons and the killing of great animals. Fish from clean ruvers. This woman we owe the earth for a rare wonderful woman and what she did. This Medal was supposed to be sold at the A.N.A. Show in 2020. But we know it was cancelled. Call. I believe they have ones in silver and bronze. This is what this hobby does. It teaches us. How many people knew of this woman before the Medal. not many. A great choice by the A.NA. It's beautiful and I would call and pick one up. They are numberd. I have 41. But it's the Medal that counts. That teaches. Just like this hobby!! Thanks. Mike!!

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14 Nov 2020

OTHER HERO'S WE FORGET !

Medals | Mike

Hi I hope.you are all well. When I read Gary's great blog about his service to this country and the wonderful job he did . I asked myself what other unknown hero's are out there. I found the one below. There is not much to say about it but it tells how everyday citizens served in there own neighbood. I found this on ebay and it speaks so loud of our country.I had to have it.

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