Definition

• Coin-medal.  A medal made like a coin – struck in a coining press on an upset blank with low-relief coining dies. The appearance of a coin-medal is like that of a coin in every aspect, it just does not have a denomination and is, of course, not intended as money. The similarity between coin-medals and coins include size, method of manufacture, type and height of relief, composition, and some technical factors, like the presence of a rim (from upsetting) and the option to have a smooth or reeded edge (from the type of collar). Coin-medals are also like coins in that they may – or may not – have a proof surface; they differ in that sometimes they are given a patina finish rather than remain coin finish.
  The original concept of so-called dollar in the United States and gedenkthaler in Germany, was that these numismatic objects were coin-medals, as close to coins as possible, but without denomination and status of a circulating medium. Both so-called dollars and gedenkthalers were in imitation of large silver coins – the U.S. silver dollar, and the German three- or five-mark coin.
  There are several inherent reasons for the popularity of a struck piece of this size
  (approximately 38mm or 1 1/2 inches):  (1) convenience – it is a large coin and a small medal in one size; (2) design size – it is ample size for the designer to express his artistic design; (3) but most important of all, the machinery for producing such pieces is readily available, high-speed coining presses, upsetting machines and others, all could easily accommodate this size piece.
  Thus what began as an imitation of a silver-dollar size coin around the turn of the 20th century became somewhat standardized for souvenir medals, collector medals – and the boom of the 1960s in America – the proof finish silver medal. All are medals, but closely resemble coins.  See so-called dollar.

  excerpted with permission from

  An Encyclopedia of Coin and Medal Technology

  For Artists, Makers, Collectors and Curators

  COMPILED AND WRITTEN BY D. WAYNE JOHNSON

  Roger W. Burdette, Editor

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