Featured Lusitania Medal

I just did after your post. I think I figured it out how to load images

 

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this is brass or bronze. its not steel

 

I'll be best, I'm not sure anyone here has the knowledge/qualifications to say if it's real or not. I'll try to find he link to the expert on these. He'd be your best help. My guess is that it's a reproduction and not an original Goetz, but that's only because the details look mushy and make me wonder if it's a copy of one. Don't take my guess as anything more than that though.

 

HUH I refreshed my window and my lusitania posts are gone?? im confused

 

Maybe this can help. The AD below the lusitania ad is for a 300th 1936 michigan coin for only $2.00 (today they are selling for much more) the ad also states the lusitanis coin is listed in the June 29th edition of coin world page 6 BUT there is no year mentioned. If the ad is very old (pre ww2?) would there not be copies made in brass or bronze due to the fact they were not valuable yet or even colletible? strange but maybe the AD can help date the coin. I saw the one that sold at Bonhams and its very similar to the casting and lack of very clean detail, whats interesting is the bonhams coin and this one BOTH have a air bubble hole in the cloud above the ship in the same place. ???????? I see these are not worth BIG bucks so why copy what is not valuable?

 

Hmm, I see seven messages from you here ... Maybe they do not show up for you because you "ask" the forum software to display new posts only? Anyway, welcome - and yes, they're there.

Christian

 

Just a couple of thoughts.
1. We don't know that the ad actually coincides with the coin. They could have come together, but they could also have been placed together to make it seem more valuable. (truthfully, I don't know, I just tend to be a skeptic sometimes).
2. Your letters seem mushy compared to the other medals displayed on this post. Some of the letters have melded together, making me think it's a copy of another medal. I'm no expert on copying coins/medals, nor am I on Lusitania Medals, so please take that with a grain of salt.
3. Here's the best resource regarding the medals: http://www.lusitaniamedal.com/medal.html
If you click on the Varieties tab, you'll see they were mostly made out of iron and bronze, but not exclusively.

In summary: I have no idea if yours is real, but the link I provided to you has an email address under the Contact section. He can help you out. Even if yours (not sure, so don't make your mind up yet) is fake, it's still a really cool item.

 

interesting info. I purchased it with lots of coins all dating way back. the image to the left (the gold color coin) is an 1875 agricutlrural award coin for best sheep flock. I bought the coins from an estate sale along with old marbles, an old slot machine, clock, sterling etc etc etc. They could not have been trying to deceive me on the coin because one watch ($5) had a 1.5 ounce 18k gold italian band that I sold for $1500 and two others they thought were fake rolexes were in fact a 1966 and 1969 So I dont think they were trying to fool me with the coins so ill have to keep looking. BUT even if its real its what $200 maybe $300? far from a treasure and just the two rolexes are at the least worth $15,000 together. This sale netted me a HUGE trove of goodies with the lusitania coin costing me $5 ( I bought it after I purchased the other items) I figured $5 why not.

 

First of all, nice purchase and win off those auction items. I hope to someday be so lucky. And yes, a real one would go for a few hundred dollars. I purchased mine for $80 and am not disappointed. You scored big time with $5.00

 

I picked up one of these recently with a placeholder bid. It very well might be a copy, because I know so little about the variations.

To add to what was mentioned before; the cargo included a large volume of ammunition. There were Remington .303 rifle bullets (standard issue for the British Army) listed on the customs manifest when she left the US (roughly 4,200,000 rounds), plus supposedly unfused artillery shells, & 18 cases of "non-explosive fuzes" (maybe the mechanical components alone??)) & suspicions have abounded ever since that she may have been carrying additional, unlisted war material, such as gun cotton or aluminum powder.

While these were routinely shipped on commercial ships at the time, it certainly seems (from a modern perspective) that this cargo would make the Lusitania a valid military target with the guilt lying on whoever would use human shields to hide armaments.

Germany was also being embargoed by the Allies at the time, causing widespread malnourishment & preventable civilian deaths. The embargo was protested by the German government & it had questionable legality under the prevailing rules of war. The declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare was largely in response to this embargo - it was an attempt to apply unexpected pressure & turn the opinion of the British public against the embargo. Since the Lusitania was carrying foodstuffs & raw materials to the UK (which had to import much of its needs for the war effort), those also could be considered material aide to the British military.

The Cruiser rule also casts the British in a poor light. Under that pre-war standard, submarines were expected to surface, give ships a chance to surrender & evacuate non-combatants before they could sink the vessel.

The British Admiralty issued orders for passenger ships to attempt to ram any submarine that was spotted surfacing in their path. This secret order made the "Cruiser rule" untenable. These orders had been broadcast under encryption codes that the Brits knew had been broken by the Germans, making them an open secret among submariners.

One last thing I find interesting: the British had also leaked plans to rush troop reinforcements from Canada. This was a false flag operation to cover actual reinforcements crossing the English Channel by fooling the German Navy into focusing submarine efforts to the west. So, British actions actually *increased* the risk for neutral passenger ships & then British propaganda & diplomacy took advantage of the situation when the Kriegsmarine sunk a passenger vessel.

I have to tip my hat to the masterfulness of that strategy, but... wow.

So, is there an easy way to determine which version this is? Mine is 80g in weight, & non-magnetic. There's no seam on the edge, but no "K Goetz" inscription either.

 

Been looking out for these for some time now , nice snag

 

The 5 May (not Mai) confirms it to be a reproduction, but I'm afraid I cannot help you beyond that.

 

I thought the German medals had a lazy "I" that curved back to the left, & the British propaganda pieces (quickly made from newspaper photos of the original) had a clear Y.

It's hard to tell which this is, because if it is a Y, that top right arm is awfully weak.

 

Hope this is OK. Not a coin. I have this Lusitania menu. My wife's grandmother was a passenger on the Lusitania in 1907. Just thought I'd share.

 

No, sorry. The German number 1 is a slant top that looks like a 7, but the I is straight (see my medal on the first post of this thread). Yours looks very much like a Y to me.

 

This is cool! Is it yours?

 

From what I have read, the captain was partially responsible for the sinking. He was supposed to be navigating the ship in a zig-zag pattern which made it harder for the German sub to aim the torpedo. Instead he was steering it straight which allowed the Germans to time the release of the torpedo much more easily.

At any rate the ship was carrying military hardware, which made it a legitimate target. This medal was a well designed piece of propaganda.

 

Yes it hangs in my dining room!