Odd Coin or Coin-Like Medal, King Juan Carlos I w/ No Year

Discussion in 'World Coins' started by laserhawk64, Oct 24, 2009.

  1. laserhawk64

    laserhawk64 Junior Member

    Hello all... first time posting, just got a rather odd coin and trying to find out what it is.

    This ...whatever it is... is a very large and heavy coin-like item. Can't figure out what it's made of, but my Pitney Bowes postal scale says it's 2.8oz. That's probably +/- 0.1oz or so...

    No year, no denomination on this, not even sure it's actual coinage. Up until I looked really closely at it, I thought it was terra cotta :mouth: but then I looked at it under a desk lamp, with a magnifying glass, and a certain metallic sheen was noticed. It's so corroded/rusty/etc. though, that (as said above) I can't tell what it's made of without damaging it.

    If it matters, this was in a large collection of my grandfather's (~39lbs (+/- 2lbs) of coinage, including boxes, according to my bathroom scale). I'm selling it (not here) because I need the money. It's sad to part with what is essentially my grandfather's legacy, but I have no other choice.

    Images are attached.

    Thanks (somewhat in advance) for your help, folks!
     

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  3. hontonai

    hontonai Registered Contrarian

    It's a medal commemorating the date he was proclaimed King, two days after the death of long-time dictator Francisco Franco.
     
  4. laserhawk64

    laserhawk64 Junior Member

    Cool! Would like to know year + composition + rarity info if anyone's got it... I'm totally clueless about this thing.
     
  5. kvarterto

    kvarterto Senior Member

    The year is on the medallion in roman numerals: MCMLXXV ;)

    (1000 + [1000-100] + 50 + 10 +10 +5)
     
  6. laserhawk64

    laserhawk64 Junior Member

    So it was minted in 1975... but what's it made of?
     
  7. hontonai

    hontonai Registered Contrarian

    The full date on the reverse is November 22, 1975. From the appearance in your picture, I would guess that it's copper-nickel, the same material as U.S. nickels and the outer layers of dimes, quarters and half-dollars. Usually, but by no means always, precious metal tokens and medals have their metallic content, degree of purity, and sometimes weight, included in the design. Check the edges to see if there is any inscription there, as often private mints put their IDs in that location.

    If you have a friendly neighborhood jeweler, you might be able to get an educated guess opinion on content there.

    Unfortunately, from the standpoint of obtaining information, unless a medal is by a well-known designer, or from an identified private mint, it is almost impossible to track down specific information on its composition.

    As a last resort, you might try going to Google, and search for images of Juan Carlos I, hoping to spot a picture that matches your medal.
     
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