Greeting Folks, I typically buy exonumia pieces when they first catch my eye, and long before I've had any chance to do any research on them. I am typically pleasantly surprised by the history and provenance each piece brings with it. Most of my purchases don't end up being particularly rare or noteworthy, but I am sometimes surprised. This particular token, I bought because of my fascination for it's subject, it was cheap, and the design elements reminded me of some of Ron Landis's well known Renaissance Faire tokens and medals. After I received this one, I started Googling around a bit and was surprised at the lack of information on it. I couldn't even find much information on the event where it was sold / distributed. One would think that an event such as the 1940 New York World's Fair would have a lot of information available, but alas, I am coming up with nothing. Most images I find from this event make it look more like a "county carnival" than a "World's Fair." Has anyone seen one of these before and know of it's origins? Thanks in advance. Oh yeah, because this piece is older than me, it qualifies as "ancient." Z Leonardo Da Vinci Medal - 1940 New York World's Fair - Exhibition of Leonardo Da Vinci Inventions Obverse: Leonardo Da Vinci - portrait over stylized globe Reverse: Exhibition Of / Leonardo / Invention / New York / 1940 / (microscopic near border - JOHNSON) Material: brass, 28.5mm, 8.7g
Here is more discussion and the resolution of this mystery. https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1051824/leonardo-enigma - Broucheion
