hi, i have found a medallion in aluminium with a sphynx and the legend egypt 1882 on one side and just egypt 1882 - 1899. i know all about the anglo/egyptian war of that year but i have never come across this oddity before.
can't chris camera is in for repair, but it is about the size of a UK decimal penny, the sphynx side looks like the campaign medal but obviously it's not that.
For that time period, aluminum was a very pricey metal. It was worth more than platinum before a few technological hurdles were cleared in production. That's why the capstone of the Washington Monument is made out of aluminum instead of what we now think of as a precious metal. A lot of the early so-called dollars were in aluminum and foolishly end up in "junk" bins.
