I've seen a few medals certified by PCGS. Are they planning to do medal certification more routinely? (This is one of the reasons I like NGC, by the way.) Not my coin, but a nice medal of Prince Eugene of Savoy, nevertheless. He and Churchill (Duke of Marlborough) beat France's Louis XIV rather decisively during the War of the Spanish Succession in the early 1700s: Not my coin. Not my description: Reference: Julius 1216. Medallists: M. Brunner & Nurnberger Mint Year: 1714 (date in reverse legend, encoded as chronogramm) Denomination: Medal - Prince Eugen of Savoy / Treaty of Rastatt Material: Bronze Diameter: 43mm Weight: 34gm Obverse: Helmeted, draped and armored bust of Prince Eugene of Savoy right. Legend: EVGEN . FRANC . DVX SABAVD . SVMM . CAES . EXCERC . IMPER . Reverse: Winged genius holding caduceus (scepter of Mercury, symbol for Trade) left. River god, river and mountain landscape in background. Legend: NOMEN VIRTVTIBVS AEQVAS. Exergue: MANGO EVGENII CADV= CEATORIS GENIO. / N guy
pretty indeed. some of those medals are beauties indeed, i looked at several over the weekend pretty seriously.
Firstly, I will just say that I have been asking the same question over on the PCGS boards, and there is no one there that can answer it for me (or seems to care!). I have actually noticed more than just medals, as they have also started to grade civil war tokens, some so-called-dollars, Conder tokens, Hard-times tokens, and a few other things they used to never touch. I asked if there was either 1) an official announcement by PCGS related to this or 2) a full listing on the PCGS website of the items they will grade. Neither question received an answer or any attention on their boards. (shrug) Now, secondly, regarding the medal you posted. That medal appearing on eBay recently is actually what prompted my post on the PCGS boards yesterday morning. With regard to that specific piece, I have two complaints. 1) I don't agree with the grade of MS66, I'd say it's closer to MS64/65. 2) And, in addition (and more importantly), I don't believe it is an original period piece dating to 1714, given the die rust areas -- it looks to be a restrike to me. Look at the areas behind the bust, the right fields, and the reverse. There are spread about on the surfaces signs of a rusted die -- usually tell-tale signs of a much later striking from original rusted dies. You can see the very large PCGS SecurePlus images of the medal at this link.
Entering into the non-coin numismatic certification requires more than "a few good books." I am skeptical about precise grading of medals anyways. It's the authentication that is most important. For me, it's most important to know whether a piece is an original strike or a later restrike. When buying from the internet, I also need to know if the medal is an original strike or a contemporary cast or even a more modern electrotype. I hope PCGS can get that part correct. I've heard that NGC has had a recent change in their medal grading staff. I hope NGC can maintain their (usually acceptible) quality. guy
I agree with you about the grading bit, but when I see a medal in an NGC holder at MS66 grade level, I'm almost assured that it is a show stopper. There are exceptions, of course, but the general quality of an MS66BN NGC graded medal is "wow". As I mentioned (and I agree with you also), the attribution of something like this is the most important. And, quite frankly, I don't see how that medal is not a restrike. I think the learning curve will be very steep for PCGS to get up to speed in the exonumia world in general. I have also seen some recently graded Conder tokens that make me just scratch my head. I guess only time will tell.
