The Junk Page

Items on this page are basically junk. That's just a personal opinion of course. I base my opinion on the fact that everything here is either modern material intended to exploit the public or actual fakes (as opposed to re-strikes). In addition there are pieces that were junk when they were made, even though they're contemporary. In any case, everything shown here has no intrinsic value. This means you should not have spent more than a couple of dollars (or your equivilent) to obtain one. If you did, well you got cheated, though to be fair to your seller they may not have known they were cheating you.

The following medal is the worst offender on eBay!

If you purchased this medal, or one that looks very like it you should know that it is neither rare nor particularly Napoleonic in origin. I spent $2 on this one and begrudged the additional dollar for shipping. But I wanted an example to show. Many do not have the loop and many different metals are used in producing these. They may date as late as the 1840s but there is no real evidence of that. The fact that none of the major collections of the past had one indicates that they are a modern production, certainly later than 1900 and perhaps being stamped out to this very day.

This is more of a common piece rather than junk:

This jeton or token was made about the date shown (1797). It is made of brass and there are a multitude of dates and varieties. Many of them were plated with gold in an attempt to pass them as spade guineas, the primary British gold piece of the time. Like the first piece it should not be considered rare. Though there may be varieties that qualify as such, most are very common and it's very unlikely that any seller can tell the difference. This piece, in nearly-as-struck condition cost $6. Don't pay much more for anything less.

This is a common piece from the era of Napoleon III (1850s):

This is a Lauer piece from about 1850. It was gilt brass when originally produced. It was probably used as play money.