Poll: This Napoleonic medal is about to come my way in a swap. But which item should I swap for it?

This French medal is about 99% certain to be coming to my Eclectic Box collection soon.

It is a special gilt bronze specimen striking of a Napoleon Bonaparte memorial medal by Antoine Bovy, commemorating Napoleon's Paris funeral on December 15, 1840. The reverse shows his original tomb on the island of St. Helena, where he died in exile in 1821.


(*The medal was struck in 1840. That "Bramsen-1990" on the label is the variety number, not the year it was issued.)


This has a PCGS population of 1/0, meaning it is the only example graded by them. The seller was asking $295, but he and I have a prior good history of swaps, so this deal will be partly or fully a barter transaction.

I have narrowed the decision of what will comprise my end of the deal down to two options, either of which are preapproved by my swap partner.

Swap Option 1: My PCGS XF45 1854 USA quarter plus $150 cash.



The quarter, which I got from @CircCam, is not a true CircCam, but a nice "crusty" original example. PCGS trend price is $140. I paid $100. So Swap Option 1 means I'd end up with the Napoleon medal for $250 plus the shipping cost for my end of the trade. This is a bit less than the $270 plus shipping total that Option 2 below would cost me, but it would require that outlay of $150 in cash.

Swap Option 2: my PCGS F12 1875 USA 20-cent piece, even trade.



PCGS trend price is $285. I paid $270. So I'd end up having $270 (plus the shipping and insurance for my end of the swap) as my cost on the Napoleon medal. I'd part with an arguably "better" coin by taking this option as opposed to the previous one, but no cash outlay would be necessary, aside from shipping.


I am primarily a World coin collector, but nice classic US Type coins do still appeal to me, too. They just end up as bargaining chips a bit more often, maybe because I'm just more jaded with US coins after 43 years of collecting. I tend to view them as commodities as much as collectibles, though I do enjoy collecting them.

The 1854 quarter, while nice, is certainly not irreplaceable.

The 1875 20c piece is a fun obsolete denomination, a slightly scarcer Philly-mint coin from a year where most were struck at San Fran, and it exhibits true CircCam contrast. That being said, while it's nice (if rather modest in grade), and I like it, it's not irreplaceable either.

I have wanted a Napoleon (Bonaparte) coin or medal for a while but have seen relatively few I liked that were within budget. I had watchlisted two nice gold coins a while back, but either would have been a big reach and both are now well beyond my newly self-imposed $500 ceiling.

This gilt bronze medal, while posthumous, has the visual advantage of large size (c. 41 mm), and a nice design. I prefer the military portraits of Napoleon to the neoclassical ones, usually, and I have always had a thing for pastoral or botanical designs. And the gilt (gold plating) gives it the visual impact a large, prooflike gold coin would have. And I can assure you that large, flashy, prooflike 41 mm gold coins are not within my budget! So think of this as a "poor man's proof gold", in a way - with a bit of added history to it.

What do you think of the Napoleon?

Which swap option should I use to acquire it?

"Pile on" by posting your own coins or medals featuring Napoleon I, or 1854 USA quarters, or USA 20c pieces.

 

To the person who just voted the last option in the poll:

Are you really sure you'd wanna see that?

Y'all are not limited to just one poll option, BTW.

 

Never was a frat boy. Never was a fat boy, either, until middle age, but boy howdy, did I ever make up for lost time and firmly cement myself in the latter category!

Actually celebrated being (barely) under 300 lbs at the clinic weigh-in yesterday.

 

Usually I agree, and Chinese food would get the edge over Japanese Tonight, however, dinner is the "Super Bowl" from Kyoto Express. Rice, filet mignon steak, teriyaki chicken, shrimp, mushrooms, broccoli. All for 13 bucks. Quite tasty, too.

(Photo focus fail)