1857 Peace Medal: real or reproduction?

Can anyone tell me if this medal is real or a contemporary reproduction? It appears to have old time toning on
it and a few edge bruises........ Please let me know, marbury

 

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Is there any edge inscription and how large is the medal?

 

Just bought it...so can't help. If it's repro I won't pay as not described as such but if real then I did well. It does look to have oxidation and quite a few edge bruises.....I understand they were not necessary struck 1850's so if it's 1920's I'd be happy.....

 

I searched www.usmint.gov for "Buchanan" medals and did not find any reproductions of the OP's medal.

I DID find that the Mint has wasted millions of dollars making obscure non-historical medals (NOT reproductions of 18th and 19th Century medals) that no one will ever buy.

 

here is real one

Here is a real one for comparison

 

Fake or repro on e-bay

 

Good job! It is possible that, 20 or 30 years ago, the Mint did have modern reproductions for sale, like the eBay example.

 

But my one looks nothing like the shiney e-bay version.....so hoping it's real.....

 

I would say, the surfaces of the OP's medal look quite old, but on the other hand, it looks too good for 1857 minting. So I have no opinion whether it's genuine.

 

I only have the Julian book published in 1977 by the Tokens and Medal Society. It shows the medal but does not list one dated 1857. I'm not sure what this is. It's interesting that one of the designers passed away that year.

 

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=HZi6nobflCAC&pg=PA24&lpg=PA24&dq=1857+buchanan+peace+medal&source=bl&ots=ppYTMWfdzW&sig=BoskPRviTvqvJe_n494glsufYgw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=7WQFUcO3FZS20QWmj4DwDQ&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=1857%20buchanan%20peace%20medal&f=false

listed here.....marbury

 

So where does that leave us - genuine or repro? I find it hard to compare the OP's to a known genuine example when they are a few posts apart...

 

photo two was sold by reputable auction house for about $900 dollars about 6 years ago and photo 3 is obvious fake off e-bay...photo one is what I bought.............so no, no further on .

Described as bronze 76mm diameter if any help.

 

I find it helpful to Right click/Save as...then bring them up in in Microsoft Picture Manager for the requisite comparisons.

I don't see any noticeable diagnostics to distinguish the "known good" example from the OP's coin (on the assumption it's not original)...other than the "known good" example appears to have a weaker strike.

 

Another e-bay fake: no signature below truncation

Good science says you should seek to falsify not confirm but here is another e-bay reproduction and whilst more convining than the really obvious fake already posted if you look below the truncation there is no signature.

 

Signature under trucation of bona fide medal

This is a shot of the Ellis SC signature on a bona fide Medal.........my one also has this.

 

Spoke to auction house who said it was legit and one simply had to assess quality of strike, detail.....

 

It looks like the mint did reproduce these at one time. Here's one in the mint packaging:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/U-S-Mint-Me...LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53f421f774&_uhb=1

This one might be an original:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mint-State-...LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5650466ce4&_uhb=1

I hope it is for that price!

 

I think it's difficult to tell.......they said I had 7 days to get refund which isn't much help if you are sending it to NGC.....will be an expensive error if repo....but they have sold well over $1,000 ......will keep you all posted......marbury

 

Convinced it's real, arrived this morning

The medal arrived this morning and when I tried to weigh it on my coin scales it went off the chart.......extremely heavy. Just put it on my kitchen scales and it weighs half a pound! See scans.....pretty convinced it's real now.