USA ILLINOIS Columbian Exposition aluminum medal 1893
$90.00
USA, ILLINOIS, medal, 1893, Obverse: Columbus and crew on beach, LANDING OF COLUMBUS, Reverse: ship, globe, angels, torches, SOUVENIR OF THE WORLD’S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION FACTS ABOUT CHICAGO … 1893, Edge: plain, aluminum, 39mm, by S.D. Childs & Co., Chicago, HK169, AU
1 in stock
Description
Aluminum was actually a rather scarce metal in the 1890s.
A series of medals made in the United States were about the size of a contemporary silver dollar, many of them silver, are collectively known in the trade as “so-called dollars.”
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.
