SWITZERLAND BERN silver school prize medal 1684

Description

This was as good as regular coinage. You could spend it. 30 kreuzer was a decent week’s wage for a skilled worker.

There are two kinds of things that are called “medals.” One is things that look like coins but don’t express a value. Sometimes those medals are considerably larger than most coins. The other kind of medal is a metal thing designed to be displayed on one’s chest often a reward for something often in a military context. If the medal is small enough it is sometimes called a “medallet.”

The word “exonumia” is used to describe all kinds of things that are “like” coins but are not coins. I wrote a blog post on that subject. Basic categories: 1. used like a coin but not issued by a national government 2. looks like a coin but not made for spending 3. other things that we are interested in.