alanvweinberg - Agricultural & Mechanical Award Medals

  • Agricultural & Mechanical Award Medals

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88 items (showing items 1–20)

Mobile Agricultural and Mechanical Association, Mobile, Ala.. 1871. Silver. Diameter 58mm, 57 grams. Pre-1900 "Deep South" silver Agricultural or Mechanical Society medals are almost always far rarer and more desirable than east coast or northeast society medals. Probably because the South was far less wealthy or sophisticated (after the Civil War), less populated, had far fewer medallic diesinking companies & far fewer Agric / Mech Societies. Even the designs of these "Deep South" pre-1900 medals tend to be a bit cruder and less sophisticated than "Northern" medals. Altho , to my mind, they have a certain charm beyond rarity that make them more appealing than the much more often-seen "Northern" medals.
 
Central Agricultural And Mechanical Association, Selma, Alabama. 1872. Silver. Diameter 43mm, 32.4 grams. This medal was acquired from Tony Terranova who told me at the time that he'd acquired it from Lester Merkin, legendary NYC coin dealer, whose wife was named Selma.
 
American Institute New York. 1853. Gold. Diameter 28mm, 16.7 grams. There is a similar size gold American Institute by Moritz Furst which is earlier and rarer than this Lovett version. I underbid a gold Furst version on eBay approx 2 yrs ago. In original case.
 
American Institute. 1871. Gold. Diameter 44mm, 101.3 grams. This large size American Institute medal is fairly common in silver and bronze and they regularly appear on eBay. But in gold, it is a different story - they are ext rare & I've seen perhaps 2 or 3 in gold in 50+ yrs whereas I've seen hundreds of the silver and even more of the bronze. This is a Gem Proof in gold and is ex PCAC auction yrs ago. In original case.
 
San Francisco Mechanics Institute. 1868. Silver. Diameter 42mm, 29.9 grams. Apparently these dies were only used in 1868. I've seen perhaps 3 or 4 of this medal in silver in over 50 yrs- it is ex rare in this design. It does not exist in bronze and I own the only gold I've ever heard of - also presented in 1868.
 
San Francisco Mechanics Institute. 1868. Gold. Diameter 42mm, 38 grams. This particular San Francisco Mechanics Institute design appears confined only to 1868 issues - dies used only 1 year. No different dated medal has been observed - of the very few I've seen in silver (3) or gold (1).
 
San Francisco Mechanics Institute. 1880. Silver. Diameter 43mm, 43.8 grams. By diesinker Stott. Apparently only issued in one year- 1880. I've seen perhaps 3-4 in silver over the decades. Rare.
 
San Francisco Mechanics Institute. 1888. Gold. Diameter 63mm, 63 grams. This is a hand-engraved, hand-constructed multi-part gold medal with an added extremely high relief rim. It came with a funereal CDV for the medal recipient and had apparently been acquired directly from the descendant family. Bought on eBay and mis-described as brass!A big impressive and presumably unique medal; I've not seen another.
 
Siskiyou Co. Cal. Agricultural Society. 1866. Silver. Diameter 36mm, 10.7 grams. Small, silver and crudely designed medal with a shallow design and no protective rim. Early California and I've not seen another. I paid Paul Koppenhaver a hefty price as he too recognized its rarity.
 
Agricultural & Horticultural Exhibition, Sacramento City, California. Silver. Diameter 39mm, 32.6 grams. A fairly common medal in white metal. I've never seen nor heard of another in silver.
 
Colorado Industrial Association. 1873. Silver. Diameter 54mm, 64 grams. This silver came with the gold specimen below. In original case.
 
Colorado Industrial Association. 1874. Gold. Diameter 54mm, 66.3 grams. Amazingly, I have owned another slightly lesser condition and minimally bent gold specimen of this medal. This cased gold Colorado medal is pristine and from its color and heft, I believe it is either 22 or 24 carat gold. The virtually mint, leather, dual-medal case (for silver and gold) is inscribed with the recipient's initials.
 
Hartford County, Connecticut, Agricultural Society. 1846. Gold. 48mm × 38mm, 14.4 grams. Exquisitely hand-engraved. Who is the figure pictured on the obv? Perhaps the founder of the society? This was acquired many decades ago from long-deceased Harold Cuddy, a Conn dealer/collector who was an old man when I acquired it from him in the early 1970's. A very early (1846) engraved gold medal and unique to my knowledge.
 
Cotton States Mechanics & Agricultural Fair Association. Silver. Diameter 57mm, 69.2 grams. A hand-engraved awardee inscription is usually more desirable than an unawarded specimen as the inscription may include the date and the nature of the award's accomplishment (i.e best steer, an invention or a popular subject like dentistry or photography or map making)or even an historically recognizable name. But too many inscribed medals have been mishandled or polished or even scratched to test their metallic content. While an unawarded specimen often escapes these problems. So give me an unawarded but pristine medal anytime over a harshly cleaned, marred awarded medal. Unawarded.
 
North Georgia Stock and Fair Association, Atlanta, GA. Silver. Diameter 50mm, 61 grams. For some unexplained reason this medal is somewhat "common" in silver - particularly for a "Deep South" medal- and almost always is unengraved/unawarded and usually comes nice Ext. Fine or better. I'd say I've seen perhaps 25 in silver over the years with maybe 1 or 2 engraved to a recipient. I'm thinking that the numerous silvers I've seen are an unawarded "remainder". I've never heard of a gold and heard of only one bronze sold decades ago in a PCAC sale. In original case.
 
Royal Hawaiian Agricultural Society. 1884. Silver. Diameter 63mm. This apparently English-struck Hawaiian 1880 die style is distinctly different from the 1857 US Mint version and considerably rarer in any metal.
 
Royal Hawaiian Agricultural Society. Bronze. Diameter 63mm. Perhaps 20 x rarer than the US Mint 1857 design. Unawarded.
 
Illinois State Agricultural Society. 1856. Silver. Diameter 41mm, 25.5 grams. Much rarer than the later design of a standing farmer.
 
Kansas Agricultural & Mechanical Association. Silver. Diameter 45mm, 41.3 grams.
 
Mechanics and Agricultural Fair Association of Louisiana. Gold. Diameter 40mm, 32 grams. Minutely hand-engraved awardee inscription on the ribbon above the pelican. For some strange reason this is listed in silver and brz as a so-called dollar in Hibler-Kappen. I sold a similar awarded/inscribed silver which the buyer tried to slab with NGC- back it came in a "body bag"- labeled as "graffiti"! Yeow!.