On Ebay is a resin molding? of a very valuable medal. The molding? is the same size as the original medal shown on the right. Also, the molding is photographed on an angle, which accounts for the differences in the two pictures. Question is this a direct molded copy of the medal or was used in the original medal manufacturing process?
if your asking if the left picture is a mold and is used to make medals it not becuase the pictures and lettering would be reversed.
You are correct. The mold must have been taken from a shell. Are these moldings made to test the finished shell? Have I stumbled across something that was used to test a counterfeit medal shell or a molding from the original process?
I see the staff showing at an angle, but that can be accounted for by the photographer shooting the copy? at an angle and not straight on. Other discrepancies can be accounted for by this also.
The fasces, the Lettering, the shoulder, blouse, etc. I really don't think any of it is a direct match.
It could be a master from which molds were made for casting the real medals. Or it could be a copy made from a molding of the original. I'd say the level of detail in the item you're talking about is less than the real medal. That being the case, it wouldn't transfer more detail to a mold. My conclusion is that your piece is a copy of an original.
This is currently on EBay and I have no intention of trying to buy it. What is bothersome though is the possibility it could have been used in making or testing a mold for forgeries. At Stacks the real medal just fetched around 38K. Hope no forgeries were made.
When was the original medal made, and was the original medal struck or cast? Resin models like that have been used for the reducing machines that make master hubs for maybe thirty to forty years. If the medal is much older than that then it is probably a modern copy for making reproductions.
The original medal I am fairly sure goes back to Washington's inaugural so it was probably used to make reproductions. Rather who knows what the EBay buyer is going to use it for.
