Hello, I know this is not really coin related but I was thinking of selling this medal on Ebay and have no idea what it is. I know it is from 1900 and is the 50th year celebration and was in Philadelphia but after that I am lost. If anyone has any idea I would greatly apprciate the help.
fastfun1111, The medal was apparently given out to participants in the 28th Bundes Turnfest held on July 20-23, 1900 in Philadelphia! This was also their' Golden Jubilee celebration that year (1850-1900). I really have no idea what it is or was about but may have been an association where Germans from Germany and other Germans that had immigrated to America (or their descendants) held a special Field Day (Turnfest) in different cities each year. The words "Frisch" means "New", "Frei" means "Free", "Stark" means "Strong" and "Treu" means "Faithful". Not sure what NBTA stands for but may mean National Bundes Turnfest Association. The Other, Other Frank
Have to agree it is a very interesting piece and looks to be in great condition as well :thumb: Also a 1st for me LOL De Orc :kewl:
Fastfun1111,you should put a starting price of US$100 on this item,as it could be quite rare.I reckon that a German would be interested in this,as the colours of the medal ribbon is that of the current German flag. Aidan.
Thanks for all the info. I will most likely list it in a few weeks. I have alot of foreighn medals that I am going through that I plan to list. I am going to post one more that I think is one of the better ones I have ????????? just a guess though. Thanks for all the help.
What's interesting to me is the ribbon it's attached to.I guess I am surprised to see that the red/yellow/black colors of the modern German flag were already in use back then.Hmmmmm...
Have checked through my medal ribbon list and so far cant find it, I do have one more reff book to look through though LOL thing is if it was civilian and privatly done then they could stick any ribbon they fancied on it. De Orc :kewl:
I just noticed there was a weak stamp on the back of the ribbon kind of looks like EMIL ZOTHE SOUTH and I cant make out the rest. I will post a pic but I doubt it will show up. I wiould say this was maybe the name and then the location or maybe the maker??
fastfun1111, You might try a light steaming of the ribbon to get the wrinkles flattened out more, then scan the ribbon and use a "Word" type progam to see if will pick up on and covert the Letters (words) on the ribbon. If that does not work, then possibly manipulationg the brightness, contrast, colrs or hues with a Photo program, may be the uncertain letters into view. Also, look on the back of the Medal itself as much of the time, the Manufacturer will stamp or engrave their' name or logo there. The problem that you may find, is that the Medal and the Ribbon were made by two different Companies! You are probably right, it probably is the Company or person that manufactured the ribbon! However, the Company probably no longer exists, making finding any information on it almost impossible. If you got the letters correct, I could find only one mention of a Emil Zothe (which may have been the name of the owner of the Company) on the Web. The resource gives an Obituary of a Julia L. Zothe on December 6, 1919, wife of Emil Zothe in Pennsylvania. If this the same Emil Zothe, then at least he lived in or had a Company in the same State as where the Turnfest was held! The Other, Other Frank
Well, those colors are not exactly modern. The flag (three horizontal stripes, black-red-"gold") was already used in the Liberation Wars against Napoleon. And in the mid-19c, the National Assembly of the 1848 revolution made it the official German flag. But during the "restoration", and in the Prussian dominated empire until 1918, that flag - representing democratic and partly anti-monarchist ambitions - was not used ... Christian
Hello, Huntsman53 I used your suggestion about manipulating the colors and came up with the rest. it is: EMIL ZOTHE SOUTH 9TH S. PHILADA. I guess bright light is not always the best after all. Thanks again for the help and the tip!!!! Fastfun1111
Fastfun1111, Cool! Now you most of the information that you need if you sell it on eBay! Have you found a Company name or logo on the Medal? If not and there is none, then the makers name on the ribbon will probably suffice.
There is no makers name on the reverese on the reverse of the medal. It is a thinner medal and only weighs about 11.5 grams. I took a pic of the reverse its the same as the front only reversed.
Fastfun1111, More than likely, the Medal was manufactured by the same Company or individual (Emil Zothe) as the Ribbon! The Medal is probably German Silver which primarily contains Copper, Nickel and Zinc but could contain a few other components as well. However, German Silver does not contain any elemental Silver as a component! The Medal has the appearance of many older German Silver pieces that I have seen but without testing (which you would not want to have done), there is no way to really tell unless you can find an expert on German Silver or find information on Medals produced by Emil Zothe. Although the workmanship on your Medal is superb, there is apparently not a lot interest or value in most of these Medals! However, I believe that yours is unique and may fetch at least a much higher price than smaller and less detailed Turnfest Medals. There is one Turnfest Medal and a couple of Postcards currently up for auction on eBay and there have been a few on eBay in the recent past. I have copied and pasted below the link to one of the complete auctions for a Turnfest Medal. http://cgi.ebay.com/1904-LaCrosse-W...goryZ403QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Good luck!
