Need Some Help With Retirement Medallion

Ugly, if you want to know what it is made of, that can be easily done with the XRF in my lab, and I would happily do that for you. Unless, of course, it is clad in its structure (then you will only get a surface composition).

You should have bought this one!
It has an empty name space.
Just fill in your name and the years you paid taxes. Done.

Link:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ELIZABETH-1...t_500wt_1202

Fascinating... I would like to acquire one of these items... I will have to keep my eyes open...

Yeah Kijiji time for sure. I wish I could get a hold of whatever department handed these things out and find the maker. I've tried a few with no luck but civil servants aren't always open to random inquiries tangent to their core responsibilities.

Like coins, the reliability of the device is you often get what you pay for. Hand-held XRF devices are so-so. I use a bench-top model, with about 4 times the power of hand helds, it can penetrate through oxidation patina, corrosion crust and even plating if it is thin enough. I have done enough cross-referencing of various data types (soils, rocks, metals) and the bench-top XRF is superior to the hand-held XRF devices, and holds its own against wet chemistry for most major elements (metals) and even quantitative analysis with an SEM. If you want, I can even point you to the scientific papers that prove it. A powerful enough X-ray beam can penetrate the surface, it is a matter of simple physics, really. If you just want an analysis of the surface, I prefer the SEM.




So what do you do with your coins after subjecting them to neutron activation? You need to store them in a 'hot room' until enough time passes when it is safe enough to handle indiscriminately? Frankly, nothing beats fire assay (for gold) or wet chemistry or laser ablation ICP-MS for the most precise analysis - but unless you are trying to isotopically fingerprint the source of the metal, or understand its trace element content, it is pointless. A decent XRF can give you relative percentages of metal alloys, down to two or three decimal places. Remember that three decimal places is equivalent to 100 parts per million margin of error. Not so good for analyzing paint on your kids toys or your drinking water, but perfect for planchet classification - that is well beyond the tolerance that the mint has when it orders planchets externally.

Lastly, the bench-top XRF is in my lab, and takes 90 seconds to have results, without paying a technician to run a mass spectrometer or booking time on the other instruments. I agree it is not perfect, but it is a heck of a lot better than some of the 'sound analysis' some folks do on silver coins and the 'scratch edge of coin with piece of glass' that some TPG's admit to using.

That's an excellent find Kenney, given where I bought that collection from that is the guy, no doubt.

He had good taste in Vicky twenty five cent pieces whatever else was going on.

just joined to post this.... I have a medallion just like this one from my grandfather for 35 years of service. He got it in 1990. There was a piece of paper under the medal that says:

"Presented by the Government of Canada for 35 Years of Service. The enclosed medallion was produced by the Royal Canadian Mint, renowned the world over for artistic excellence and quality craftsmanship. Struck from a sterling silver blank, the medallion is finished by hand to give it a distinctive appearance. Please note that excessive manipulation may affect the medallion's special protective coating, resulting in permanent damage. Avoid unnecessary handling."

I have seen a few of these on ebay over the last year or two. They are retirement medals and sterling if my memory is correct.