Posted 06/28/2023 06:21 am
I have two theories, depending on how large it is.
If it's small, then it's probably a "lead seal", or at least a test-stamping of a lead seal.
If it's large (and I assume this is the case), it's probably a "lead pull" of some kind of award medal.
A "lead pull" is where a die-maker has made a die but not hardened it; in order to show off the proposed design to the client, a test strike is made in a soft metal like lead (it has to be soft, since the die is not yet hardened). If the customer likes the look of it, the die gets hardened. If it needs editing, no worries, the die hasn't been hardened so some editing or touching up is still possible.
Lead pulls are always uniface (one-sided), as only one die at a time is tested.
This is from a private mint that made medals; coin-striking mints can sometimes make led pulls as well, when a new design is being tested. At our coin club the other night, someone brought along some very scarce 1936 lead pulls of the proposed Edward VIII and early George VI obverse portraits. Very interesting stuff, though one wonders how such scarce and historic pieces ended up in some guy's shed in Toowoomba, on the far side of the world from London where they would have originated.
If it's small, then it's probably a "lead seal", or at least a test-stamping of a lead seal.
If it's large (and I assume this is the case), it's probably a "lead pull" of some kind of award medal.
A "lead pull" is where a die-maker has made a die but not hardened it; in order to show off the proposed design to the client, a test strike is made in a soft metal like lead (it has to be soft, since the die is not yet hardened). If the customer likes the look of it, the die gets hardened. If it needs editing, no worries, the die hasn't been hardened so some editing or touching up is still possible.
Lead pulls are always uniface (one-sided), as only one die at a time is tested.
This is from a private mint that made medals; coin-striking mints can sometimes make led pulls as well, when a new design is being tested. At our coin club the other night, someone brought along some very scarce 1936 lead pulls of the proposed Edward VIII and early George VI obverse portraits. Very interesting stuff, though one wonders how such scarce and historic pieces ended up in some guy's shed in Toowoomba, on the far side of the world from London where they would have originated.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
