Hello everyone! I got this in a bag of coins I bought at a coin show.. Does anyone know anything about this piece? I'm not finding much about it at all. There is a fake of this but looks 100% different. Thank you for your help!
Here's what I found: "Medal struck to commemorate 400th anniversary of discovery of Pacific Ocean by Vasco Nuñez de Balboa. Organization almost identical with that of 1909 Festival; city-wide affair, held Oct. 22-25, 1913; out-of-town visitors approximated 1,250,000. Program also similar to prior one except Balboa, instead of Portola, arrived by water through Golden Gate; "thirty-three nations actively participated." Four-day carnival permitted visitors to inspect work progress on 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition (listed Part I). This was Official Medal; designer and number struck unknown" (http://www.so-calleddollars.com/Events/Portola_1913_Festival.html) And this: "The Portola Festival was held to commemorate the Portola Expedition of 1769 (which discovered San Francisco Bay) and showcased San Francisco's revival from the earthquake of 1906" http://tokencatalog.com/token_recor...=109366&attribution_id=250333&record_offset=0
Yours doesn't quite match the same image, so I'm wondering if it somehow was the same octagonal shape and was cut or if it was a restrike, or if it was just another variety of the medal produced?
Thank you for taking the time to reply and post information, I did read they were struck at the festival. The octagon shows on the reverse but the obverse looks worn. This one has me puzzled because it's rare but doesn't look at all like the fob. It's a cool piece though for sure!
I agree. Regardless of authenticity to the specific time, it's a cool piece with a cool story. Thanks for sharing; I hope you'll share more.
