Exposition coloniale 1931 French 4 silver medals

Discussion in 'World Coins' started by daveydempsey, Sep 18, 2019.

  1. daveydempsey

    daveydempsey Well-Known Member

    I've been offered these silver French medals from the 1931 Expo.
    They are boxed and heavily tarnished/toned.

    Searching the net all I can find are single medals in brass, not a set definitely in silver.

    Anyone point me in the right direction in finding a silver set and approx value.

    20190918_153907.jpg

    20190918_153950.jpg
     
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  3. spirityoda

    spirityoda Coin Junky

    All I found was brass/bronze. Are these silver plated ?
     
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  4. cpm9ball

    cpm9ball CANNOT RE-MEMBER

    I've never seen the "AMERIQUE" specimen in silver, either. The only one I have is brass.

    Chris
     
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  5. daveydempsey

    daveydempsey Well-Known Member

    I'm certain they are silver.
    Never seen all four together.
     
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  6. Stork

    Stork I deliver

    I've seen the bronze ones many times, never the silver. Pretty neat actually.
     
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  7. cpm9ball

    cpm9ball CANNOT RE-MEMBER

    Your medals intrigued me, so I pulled my specimen of "AMERIQUE" out to compare it to yours. I found that there are some differences. The reverse of mine is the same reverse that you show to the right of "OCEANIE" (your 3rd medal).

    Also, if you look closely at that reverse, you will see the "Cornucopia" to the left of "PARIS 1931" which identifies it as a medal produced at the Paris Mint. However, to the right of the date on my specimen are the letters "CU" which denotes that the medal is copper (cuivre), and it is my guess that it is plated with brass.

    I can't see if there are any letters to the right of the date on any of your medals. Can you tell me if there are?

    Chris
     
  8. daveydempsey

    daveydempsey Well-Known Member

    They are not to hand, they are out of town.
    I went to buy some coins off a guy and took just a enough cash that he was asking for.
    After the deal he produced these medals, he said he paid £130 for them 3 years ago and would be happy with £150.
    I said I would do some research before committing to buy.
     
  9. cpm9ball

    cpm9ball CANNOT RE-MEMBER

    I'm not convinced that they are silver or even worth what he claims. Check this out and search a little more.

    https://picclick.com/1931-Paris-International-Colonial-Exhibition-Africa-Medal-143104169321.html

    Chris
     
  10. daveydempsey

    daveydempsey Well-Known Member

    They are silver, I did a rare earth magnet test, slid down real slow just like on the 3 Morgans and Vicky Crowns I bought from him.
    Very poor rushed photos with my phone in his kitchen.

    The pics have a golden brassy look, but in hand you can tell they are silver, they have been in the display box for years, the reverse has not toned as much due not being exposed to the elements.
     
  11. cpm9ball

    cpm9ball CANNOT RE-MEMBER

    How do you explain the reverse of the OCEANIE being the same as the one I have for the AMERIQUE? Are the images just mixed up?

    Also, the Paris Mint identifies the metal composition along with the mintmark (called a Different on medals). I have already indicated that my medal has "CU" for CUIVRE (Copper). Do any of your silver medals have "AR" for ARGENT on them? It would seem rather strange if they didn't have any identification.

    Don't get me wrong. I'm not questioning your veracity, but I've been collecting French medals for 25 years, and these seem a bit unusual to me.

    Chris
     
  12. daveydempsey

    daveydempsey Well-Known Member

    I turned them over in the same position to photograph the reverse, I did not take note of any lettering or mintmarks.
    I only checked them out briefly.
     
  13. cpm9ball

    cpm9ball CANNOT RE-MEMBER

    Ahhhh! My dumb! The reverses of the four medals are in the second group. I was thinking the obverse and reverse of each medal were next to one another.

    I wish I could tell if there was any marking to the right of the date.

    Chris
     
  14. spirityoda

    spirityoda Coin Junky

  15. spirityoda

    spirityoda Coin Junky

  16. spirityoda

    spirityoda Coin Junky

    Last edited: Sep 20, 2019
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  17. spirityoda

    spirityoda Coin Junky

    I liked the elephant 1.
     
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  18. MontCollector

    MontCollector Well-Known Member

    I tried playing with the photos a little. I can tell you that there is definitely some letters to the right of the date on the second and third coin of the ops second photo. Photos aren't clear enough to tell what they are though.
     
  19. MontCollector

    MontCollector Well-Known Member

    Hmm looking at the Brown Box set @spirityoda posted It appears the reverse of the AMERIQUE coin is missing the cornucopia to the left and the letters to the right of the date. It is late though so maybe I am just not seeing them.
     
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  20. spirityoda

    spirityoda Coin Junky

    Very interesting observation that I missed too. Good eye.:wideyed:
     
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  21. spirityoda

    spirityoda Coin Junky

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