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Advice on 1831 William IV Gold Medallion condition


Kowloon88

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Hi metal people,

I recently had the opportunity to purchase an 1831 William IV coronation medallion in gold.

I usually stick to bullion or semi-numismatics, but the medallion really caught my eye in terms of the high relief and frosting (based on my relatively untrained eye).

Trouble is, there are a lot of micro scratches in the fields, but not to the same degree on the frosted relief. I can only conclude that someone may have selectively cleaned the fields. Can anyone please give me some advice on whether the scratches look like cleaning - and whether it may result in a 'details' grade if I decide to get it slabbed?

Any comments on the general condition would also be appreciated!

Please ignore the red/dark colouration at 9 o'clock - that is just the reflection of my red phone case. 

 

 

 

 

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There's no way you could wipe and scratch the fields like those shown without also marking the relief.

I believe in older times they used to clean the planchets and/or the die surfaces. IMO those markets were caused pre strike.

Profile picture with thanks to Carl Vernon

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It’s a lovely medal mate! Grading might provide some security for future buyers if you ever sold it on and it preserves its current condition whatever that might be.

It looks awesome for a medal almost 200 years old!!! 😮 

Decus et tutamen (an ornament and a safeguard)

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Thanks for the replies all. Apologies for any confusion as well - I have not actually purchased the medallion, although I have been seriously thinking about it! It was offered to me from a private collector. 

21 hours ago, sovereignsteve said:

There's no way you could wipe and scratch the fields like those shown without also marking the relief.

I believe in older times they used to clean the planchets and/or the die surfaces. IMO those markets were caused pre strike.

 

I'm leaning to agree with this more, as the scratches terminate exactly at the relief - as if the scratches continue right through "under" the relief, if that makes sense.

1 hour ago, Booky586 said:

Lovely find. That's a seriously good looking medallion, I'd buy it if I saw one like that too. How big is it, sovereign size or closer to a crown?

It weighs about 27.2 grams with a 33.5mm diameter, so a bit smaller than a Crown. I could not find much information on the purity online. I suspect it is at least 22ct, which would equate to around £1,180 worth of actual gold. 

 

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