3 mystery coins

[Guest kathy]

i have a coin which is stamper 4 genrations of the british royal family there are 4 heads on one side the most ovvious is queen victoriaon the revirse side it says to commerate the sixty years of her majesty it has the date 1837-97 it is also dated 1897 could anyone give me any information to what this coin is.

i als have 2 other ? coins or small medals one is king edward v11and queen alexandraone one side the revirse saysmarried march 10th1863 accession january22th 1901 the second is a medal i think as there is a small hole at the top this king georgev and queen mary one one side on the reversr georgius V rex at imparator crowned 1911

i would be very greatful for any information about these coins/medals

[william 0]

Kathy, these sound like medals. Geoff is the medal expert

[Chris Perkins 223]

That what I said when she emailed me!

[Geoff T 3]

i have a coin which is stamper 4 genrations of the british royal family there are 4 heads on one side the most ovvious is queen victoriaon the revirse side it says to commerate the sixty years of her majesty it has the date 1837-97 it is also dated 1897 could anyone give me any information to what this coin is.

i als have 2 other ? coins or small medals one is king edward v11and queen alexandraone one side the revirse saysmarried march 10th1863 accession january22th 1901 the second is a medal i think as there is a small hole at the top this king georgev and queen mary one one side on the reversr georgius V rex at imparator crowned 1911

i would be very greatful for any information about these coins/medals

Kathy,

The first one is a commemorative medal for the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897. Without seeing a picture I would guess that it's possibly the one produced by Spink with an obverse (heads side) designed and signed by Bowcher. This is silver-coloured and has the legend in the field "To commemorate the 60th year of her majesty's reign". The reverse (tails) has four shields with the Queen and the next three generations of monachs - the future Edward VII, George V and Edward VIII. The last is a 3-year old.

There's also another a smaller, bronze medal with a similar obverse inscription round the edge and the shields of England, Scotland and Ireland and on the reverse the four heads in a row with the Queen on the right. This has the reverse legend you quote "Four generations of the royal family".

The second medal is an accession medal for Edward VII of 1901. These are far less common than the coronation medals from 1902. I've not seen one like the one you describe.

Your third medal is a coronation medal for George V of 1911. Again, there are lots of these so I can't really judge without a picture, but from what you say it sounds like one of the commercial ones rather than an official one.

Hope this helps - Geoff

[kuhli 0]

Geoff, (and anyone else who can help)

I have a couple of Canadian coronation medals that I have added to my collection. I am thinking that I would like to see about adding a few British coronation medals to my British coin collection, also. Is there anywhere on-line that has information about these? I see that you mention that there are both official and commercial varieties. I think I would prefer to start with the official ones, but may also consider the commercial types. Any information would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Scott

[Geoff T 3]

Hi Scott,

This might be useful for the official medals, although it doesn't look to have been updated for a while.

http://www.stephen-stratford.co.uk/coronation.htm

There are also various dealers' sites, although in my experience this sort of medal doesn't come up that regularly. One of the best is

www.christophereimer.co.uk

The problem with the unofficials is that there are hundreds of them, and most are not dealt with in detail anywhere because they're almost all anonymous and not made of precious metal, so most experts aren't interested. In 1902, for instance, every local authority in the country issued its own coronation medal.

It also depends on how far back you want to go. Pre-20th century royal commemoratives, if they're by known designers, will be in British Historical Medals. The big names are Simon and Roettiers in the 17th century and Croker in the 18th, then Wyon and Pistrucci in the early 19th - all names we're familiar with in a related context. I have a personal attachment to the medals of Sir Edward Thomason (a pupil of Boulton), but then I would, wouldn't I.

The Canadian medals sound interesting. How old are they? I know that in the present reign various events - like the jubilees - have produced a separate official medal for Canada. I've not seen any older commemoratives which are Canadian-specific (ouch!), despite looking when I've been in Canada.

Get back if you have any more queries, or pm me.

Geoff

[kuhli 0]

Okay, now I feel really stupid. I have read this thread several times, even replied to it, and got a response to my reply. Now, I finally figure out that the thread is talking about medals. doh!! For some reason, I was thinking about tokens, not medals. Geoff, I don't have any Canadian medals, what I have are the tokens given out for the coronation of EII in 1953, vist of GeoVI in 1939, and 50th anniversary of Confederation in 1927. Now I must go hide my head in the sand for a little while.

[william 0]

How embarassing for you Kuhli!

[Geoff T 3]

Okay, now I feel really stupid.

No need to! In my experience there's a lot of confusion between the terms used in what is grandly called exonumismatics. Medal - medallion - token... From your description it sounds as if you have what I would call a medal or medallion. Any chance of a picture? PM me if you want.