| First of all let me say that this part of the FAQ deals
primarily with French medals. A re-strike is a medal that has been struck
from the original dies at a later date. Since the Paris mint has continuously
restruck medals once the dies have been created, technically many of the
earlier Napoleonic medals are restrikes. In practice the term is used to
denote Napoleonic medals struck in the post—napoleonic period. Obviously
to collectors this is of great interest regardless of the reason that they
collect Napoleonic medals in the first place. Those reasons are primarily, in no
particular order; historic significance, beauty, and rarity. As you
can see, for the collector of beauty only the issue of re-strike vs. original
is moot. But if the other two are factors then originality becomes very
important! If a medal can be produced today that looks, weighs and in all
other respects is a perfect copy such a copy should have less value than
one who has retained that beauty and condition over a period of 200 or more
years. But how do you tell the difference? |
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| Fortunately with French medals there are some clues.
They are not absolute but they help identify the worst offenders in the
re-strike game; the French and Napoleonic Medals. And the clues are-- drum
roll please-- the edges! Yes, I said the edges. Original Napoleonic
period medals from the Paris Mint had no markings on their edges. It would
be nice if that were the end of the story but since you can see the text
go on you know it's not! |
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|
First, some medals had edge decorations such as herringbone
patterns. Here's an example though I didn't
scan the edge. A copy would necessarily also copy the edge, thereby making
edge markings difficult to do. Now you're probably asking yourself what
an edge mark looks like so I've put one to the right. The word "ARGENT"
is French for silver and the little mark to the left is a pointing hand. Fortiter has put together a great page explaining the significance of these marks. Examination of that page allows
us to date my re-strike to sometime between 12 June 1845 and 1860. This was what the "pointing hand" looked like in real life.The blurriness of the strike though might mean it was a cornucopia and therefore date between 1880 and before 1950 or so when the year was added to the edge as well. |
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| Unfortunately, if the mint struck from privately owned
dies the edges were marked only if the owner of the dies wanted edge marks.
This practise has continued to the present day, with the mint operating
as a business, storing private dies and striking them to order for the owner
of the dies. |
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| In 1816 the government of Louis XVIII took the dies
for the Napoleonic medals away from the Paris Mint. This was only reasonable:
since Louis had been king since the death of Louis XVII, how could there
be medals glorifying someone else during that period? Only after the Bourbons
were ousted and Orleans took over (1830) did the mint get their dies back.
Many dies were too worn to be used; many important dies were missing. The
mint commissioned die engravers to produce copies as necessary, and many
so-called restrikes are not from the original dies. |
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| Now, if you've collected some medals with edge markings
but at original prices all I can say is "buyer beware". It's really
not the dealer's job to educate you, though it was a clue waiting for me
to "get", several dealers having mentioned the fact as if it were
significant. After discovering the significance of edge marks I found that
I had ignorantly collected about 8 in the past. Since then I've collected
a couple more, but never through ignorance. I bought the above piece for
little more than its silver value at the time. |
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| Before you say to yourself "Damn the French! They
hate us, and that's why they do it", you should know that this has
a long history in France. The Mint has always been willing to strike a copy
for collectors over the centuries of anything they have on hand. It's just
good manners, and good business. By the way the British used to re-strike
their medals as well, and for the same reasons. Unfortunately there's no
particular way to tell their re-strikes from an original. |
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| Certain British engravers pieces were regularly restruck
after their death, particularly Küchler's, so much so that when it
was impossible to do as in this example,
it was worthy of mention. |
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When the dies from Italian medals became the property
of the Paris Mint they were treated in the same manner as French. Further
confusing the issue was the fact that some early medals from Italy had
edge inscriptions and variants of the same medal,
also struck in Italy, did not. However, later Paris bronze strikes did not have edge markings until they were re-re-struck
(if you will) in the post-1841 era. The example linked to in this paragraph
was struck in Italy in the 1790s prior to the dies going to Paris, since
although it has no edge inscription it is only half as thick as a Paris
example would be. |
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| Finally, Prussian, Austrian and German States in general
didn't seem to have a history of re-striking their medals. Certainly there
doesn't seem to be any indication that they did this. If anyone has information
to the contrary I'm always willing to learn! |
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| So you see, edge marks are important in French Napoleonic
Medals because they help us establish whether they are authentic originals.
Well, most of the time. And most of the time is probably as good as you're
going to get with an object that may already be over 200 years old. Remember
that a re-strike will have the sharpness and beauty of the originals; unlike
a cast copy which will never quite hold up to careful scrutiny under a loupe.
It may also have the defects of an old and polished set of dies as well.
If you buy over the internet, try to buy from established dealers who will
take a return if you determine it's not what you paid for. If they want
you for a long-term customer they'll make you happy just like any other
business. But ask the questions up front and save everyone time if you're
only interested in originals or only interested in re-strikes (yes, I know
some folks!). |
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| See the FAQ for "What is my
medal worth?" for my thoughts on that issue. |
