I recently bought a COMITIA AMERICANA John Paul Jones medal. I suspect it is recent restrike (but that does not matter, I bought it cheaply). I just want to know which copy I bought. The medal is about 55.8 mm, 98.5 grams, and appears to be bronze plated copper. It is also signed by the artist Dupre. Does anyone know more about this medal to give me some idea about when and where it was struck? Thank You
The modern Mint restrikes tend to be a yellow bronze color. The 19th century original tend to be a rich brown mahogany color. I can't tell if this is a modern with bad toning or an early one with a bad old cleaning.
What is strange to me is that the medal seems to be copper with bronze plating. The more orange/yellow areas are the copper and the other areas are bronze. From the size, weight, and metal, it seems to match the older French medal, but I can not believe it would stay on EBay for seven days without someone noticing. I won the auction with one bid at the minimum bid and at the last second.
Thos light areas are where I would expect mishandling would result in wearing through the brown patina applied to the 19th century medals.
From what I understand the US 19th century US John Paul Jones medals are not signed Dupre. Could this be a French restrike of the original French medal?
