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Here is a silver version of Queen Elixabeth and King George VI


And a Silver Jubille medal of Queen Elizabeth II

 

Woodville Centenary NZ 1875-1975

 

Completely forgot I’d picked this up years ago. Odd reverse and most likely not worth anything but interesting.

 

George Gershwin silver medal.

32mm, 21.0g, s/n# 1032, high relief, and insane toning. Unknown maker.

Z

 

1960's Buffalo Bill's Home Town
North Platte, Nebraska - Fort Cody
Good Luck White Metal Token



1960's Buffalo Bill's Home Town
North Platte, Nebraska - Fort Cody
Good Luck Brass Token


"Another stop on Roadside America"
or
"How to make the best of two inexpensive souvenir tokens"


When the original Buffalo Bill Trading Post operated from 1950 to 1954 there was a figure of Buffalo Bill outside that resembles the one on the token.



I am guessing these date to sometime shortly after 1963 and prior to 1970. That is because Fort Cody did not exist yet in 1954.

In 1963 a new Fort Cody Trading Post opened.
Created by Royce Henline and Irwin "Doc" Dunlap, Fort Cody Trading Post has been in continual operation since 1963. The first Fort Cody was located on US Highway 30 in North Platte and closed in 1969.
The second and present Fort Cody was built to coincide with the opening of Interstate 80 in 1968. It continues to be family owned and operated, and is soon to be in third generation ownership.

 

I'll get this up here since we have just seen similar items on top of the page. Sorry for the tilted images.

1983 Pope John Paul II Medal
Visit to Czechoslovakia





It's about or a little larger than a silver US Dollar in size.
This is copper nickel and well silver plated. This particular coin has some strong doubling on the reverse and some very moderate doubling on the obverse.
Others I have examined show the doubling mine exhibits, do not. Some do but not quite as dramatic.
This has been classified this as class 5 hub doubling.



Not mine below. No doubling on this one.

 

Royal Visit 1953
This medal was made to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II's visit to New Zealand in 1953-54. They were presented to school children in New Zealand to mark the Queen's coronation and visit.

Bronze, 38mm diameter with loop and bar for suspension. Struck by Stokes and Sons Ltd; Melbourne.

 

Grabbed some new bullion today

 

1976 American Gothic
American Art Treasures
Franklin Mint
Mintage 2929
.925 Sterling Silver 45mm





Although the mintage for medals of this American Art Treasures Franklin Mint set are not actually low, a complete set of 100 medals is seldom seen and some of the medals within this set never come around for sale as singles. This seems to be one of them.
It is very well done, minted in the early part of the 1976 to 1984 run when these were minted and released in order.

The Grant Wood painting is as famous as the Mona Lisa and it has been parodied in every imaginable way.



I remember the Country Corn Flakes commercial as a kid, I also remember we studied this particular painting in College.

 

La Joconde
by Leonardo de Vinci 1503
From the 1971 - 1975 Treasures of the Louvre
Franklin Mint Set

The Mona Lisa
or in French as on the reverse
La Joconde by Leonardo de Vinci
painted in 1503

2.75 inch diam 38.6 grams
.925 Sterling silver




The Mona Lisa has survived for more than 500 years, and an international commission convened in 1952 noted that "the picture is in a remarkable state of preservation."

Mona Lisa has no clearly visible eyebrows or eyelashes. Some researchers claim that it was common at this time for genteel women to pluck these hairs, as they were considered unsightly.

On 21 August 1911, the painting was stolen from the Louvre. The theft was not discovered until the next day.
French poet Guillaume Apollinaire, who had once called for the Louvre to be "burnt down", came under suspicion and was arrested and imprisoned. Apollinaire implicated his friend Pablo Picasso, who was brought in for questioning. Both were later exonerated. Two years later the thief revealed himself. Louvre employee Vincenzo Peruggia had stolen the Mona Lisa by entering the building during regular hours, hiding in a broom closet, and walking out with it hidden under his coat after the museum had closed.
Peruggia was an Italian patriot who believed Leonardo's painting should have been returned for display in an Italian museum.
After having kept the Mona Lisa in his apartment for two years, Peruggia grew impatient and was caught when he attempted to sell it to directors of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. It was exhibited in the Uffizi Gallery for over two weeks and returned to the Louvre on 4 January 1914.
Peruggia served six months in prison for the crime and was hailed for his patriotism in Italy.

The 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa and its subsequent return, however, was reported worldwide, leading to a massive increase in public recognition of the painting.
Before a 1962–63 tour, the painting was assessed for insurance at $100 million. Insurance was not bought. Instead, more was spent on security.
Adjusted for inflation using the US Consumer Price Index, $100 million in 1962 was around $800 million in 2017 making it by far the most valued painting in the world.
The consensus of art historians in the 21st century maintains the long-held traditional opinion, that the painting depicts Lisa del Giocondo.

 

1997 Calamity Jane
Buffalo Bills Primm Nevada
10 Dollar Silver Strike





Calamity Jane, was an American frontierswoman and professional scout known for being an acquaintance of Wild Bill Hickok's.
She was compassionate to others, especially to the sick and needy. This facet of her character contrasted with her daredevil ways and helped to make her a noted frontier figure.
She also wore men's clothing.
Much of what she claimed to have witnessed and participated in could not be proven.
She lacked formal education and suffered from alcoholism.

1975 circa Calamity Jane
Deadwood SD - Mt Rushmore
.999 silver round
25 gr.





Born in Princeton, Missouri on May 1, 1852 as Martha Jane Cannary
became the legendary Calamity Jane and died on August 1, 1903.

Rather than copy and paste conflicting accounts I have found, I write my own short bio from what I gathered.
With her parents dead and her siblings in need, she did whatever she could to support them.
She only lived to be about 51 years old and probably died from a combination of hard drinking and hard living. She did wear mens clothing, doing what the men did. I think she probably could hold her own in any fight with a man, and probably did.
They say she was a good hearted person. She liked to have a rowdy good time and had a great sense of humor.
I would think she could have dressed up as a lady, as it is told that she worked in a brothel, doing more than the dishes and was a dance hall girl.



They say that she was good looking as a girl and young woman, despite the images we have of her today.
There are stories of her driving a mule team, as a rider on the Pony Express, swimming the Platt River and carrying a dispatch 90 miles for the Cavalry to an outpost where she then became seriously ill, probably with pneumonia.

A pair of Bowman Non Sports Cards that made use of the same card in two different series which I have.

1949 Bowman Wild West Calamity Jane C5 on left
1953 Bowman Frontier Days Calamity Jane No60 on right



Calamity also did some prospecting around Deadwood S.D.
There is a story of her meeting up with and taking the reins on a stage coach from a wounded driver under indian attack and saving 6 passengers and perhaps the driver as well.

She met Wild Bill Hickok in Fort Laramie Wyoming, and rode a wagon train together to Deadwood S.D. and became at least great friends but probably fought like cats and dogs at times.
Later in her life after Wild Bill Hickok was killed, she joined Buffalo Bills Wild West Show and told tall tales and exaggerated stories.
She probably displayed some handy shooting as well, but it was her stories and reputation she gained from them made her a legend.
In 1901 she was hired by the Pan American Exposition but her drinking caught up with her.
As per her wishes ...
She is buried next to Wild Bill Hickok on "Boot Hill" atop Mt. Moriah overlooking the town of Deadwood.
So how did Calamity Jane get her name? Perhaps in the end, it is that alcohol gave it to her.

 

1972 The Alamo
Longines Symphonette
Sterling Silver Medal
1.247 oz 40mm





On the obverse it appears we have the three most notable fighters who died at the Alamo shown in the forefront of the Alamo.
Texian co-commanders James Bowie and William B. Travis with Davy Crockett.

The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution.

In the early morning hours of March 6, the Mexican Army advanced on the Alamo. After repelling two attacks, the Texians were unable to fend off a third attack.
As Mexican soldiers scaled the walls, most of the Texian fighters withdrew into interior buildings. Occupiers unable to reach these points were slain by the Mexican cavalry as they attempted to escape.
Between five and seven Texians may have surrendered; if so, they were quickly executed. Several noncombatants were sent to Gonzales to spread word of the Texian defeat.
The news sparked both a strong rush to join the Texian army and a panic, known as "The Runaway Scrape", in which the Texian army, most settlers, and the new, self-proclaimed but officially unrecognized, Republic of Texas government fled eastward toward the United States ahead of the advancing Mexican Army.



The Alamo has been the subject of numerous non-fiction works beginning in 1843.
Most Americans, however, are more familiar with the myths and legends spread by many of the movie and television adaptations, including the 1950s Disney mini-series Davy Crockett and John Wayne's 1960 film The Alamo.

 

Here's a young boy throwing his water! And a fake Gold Mohur coin, someday I hope to get a real one but for now, hopefully this fake helps to keep the gold fever in check!

 

1972 Chief Red Cloud
Oglala Lakota
Franklin Mint .925 Silver





A rather scarce round and well designed sterling silver medal.
weighing 24.8 grams.

Chief Red Cloud
Red Cloud was one of the most important leaders of the Oglala Lakota. He led from 1868 to 1909.
One of the most capable Native American opponents that the United States Army faced in its mission to subdue the western territories, he led a successful campaign in 1866–1868 known as Red Cloud's War over control of the Powder River Country in northeastern Wyoming and southern Montana.

Red Cloud, Spotted Tail and Lone Horn traveled to Washington in 1875 in an attempt to persuade President Grant to honor existing treaties and stem the flow of gold miners into their lands.
The Native Americans met on various occasion with Grant.
Grant told them Congress was ready to resolve the matter by paying the tribes $25,000 for their land and resettling them into Indian Territory.

The delegates refused to sign such a treaty, with Spotted Tail saying about the proposal:

“When I was here before, the President gave me my country, and I put my stake down in a good place, and there I want to stay.... You speak of another country, but it is not my country; it does not concern me, and I want nothing to do with it.
I was not born there.... If it is such a good country, you ought to send the white men now in our country there and let us alone."

Although Red Cloud was unsuccessful in finding a peaceful solution, he did not take part in the Lakota war of 1876-1877, which was led by Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull.

 

1971 Sovereign Nation of the Sioux
Franklin Mint Silver Medal
by Loretta Griffin





Struck by the Franklin Mint out of 1 Oz .999 Fine Silver in 1971, this round celebrates the Native American Sioux Tribe. Almost all Franklin Mint silver medals were .925 Sterling Silver. The Indian Tribal Series was not.
The obverse features a Sioux Chief on horseback with teepees in the background, while the reverse was struck with the chosen symbol of the Rosebud Sioux.
The edge of the round is reeded with an area stamped with the composition and mint mark. Toning is present around the rims with hues of amber and bright blue present.

I believe the Indian chief on the obverse is "Spotted Tail" (warrior name, his birth name Jumping Buffalo).



He was the uncle of "Crazy Horse". Spotted Tail, the great head chief of the Brule Lakota Sioux tribe, was an intelligent and farseeing man who realized alone of all the Sioux that the old way of life was doomed and that to war with the white soldiers was certain suicide.
Although he was branded a traitor by many members of his tribe, the canny Brule, with all the skill of an accomplished diplomat, fought a delaying action over the council tables with the high officials in Washington.
There were scandals in President Grant's time too over The Black Hills Gold discovery.

 

The End of World War II 75th Anniversary Silver Medal

 

Love the medal, Z, especially the toning. It's absolutely gorgeous.

Bruce