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 Replies: 13 / Views: 2,048 |
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Valued Member
Canada
250 Posts |
How can one tell the difference between coinage and medals for older coins? I don't understand the difference in the terms.
Thanks
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Valued Member
Canada
311 Posts |
The way to look at it is if it was Medal axis picture a coin around you neck on a chain When it spins to the other side both sides are upright. Coinage is what you find on US coins when the reverse would be upside down. I hope I have explained it ok. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2669 Posts |
Exactly  |
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Valued Member
 Canada
250 Posts |
I see, so coinage has one side up and the other down...medals are both up. is that right?
thanks!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1150 Posts |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
A medal, when pinned on a uniform can be turned over. The natural way of doing this is to lift the bottom of the medal upwards, on a vertical axis, to reveal the reverse. When this is done, the reverse should appear upright. (Medal Alignment).
It is impossible to turn a medal on a horizontal axis, when attached to a a ribbon without twisting it, and certainly made more awkward if there are bars attached to the ribbon.
A coin showing obverse turned over on a vertical axis, will reveal the reverse upside down. It is normal to turn an obverse showing coin over on a horizontal axis, to reveal the reverse upright. (Coin Alignment)
Of course, many medals are not suspended from ribbons, for example commemorative medals, but they retain medal alignment
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Valued Member
United States
294 Posts |
Quote:
A medal, when pinned on a uniform can be turned over. The natural way of doing this is to lift the bottom of the medal upwards, on a vertical axis, to reveal the reverse. When this is done, the reverse should appear upright. (Medal Alignment).
It is impossible to turn a medal on a horizontal axis, when attached to a a ribbon without twisting it, and certainly made more awkward if there are bars attached to the ribbon. That confused the heck out of me when I first read it, then I thought about. You are somewhat correct. If YOU are wearing the medal pinned to your uniform and wish to view the other side, and you flip it up (which would, BTW, be rotating on a horizontal axis) the reverse would indeed be oriented correctly as you are looking down on it. But for all the pretty girls admiring the medal pinned to your brawny chest, the reverse would appear upside down when they flipped it this way. They would have to rotate by twisting the ribbon to see the reverse in the correct orientation. This is medal alignment. Soccordad said it best. Many medals are made to worn on a ribbon hung around the neck (eg- Olympic medals) so when they are viewed, they can be rotated along the vertical axis by twisting the medal at the ribbon, so both sides can be viewed in the correct orientation. Coin alignment is the opposite. The reverse is rotated 180 degrees of the obverse. If you hold a coin between your thumb and forefinger, then rotate the coin on that (the vertical) axis, you will see the 180 dregree rotation of the obverse and reverse. Edited by omahaorange
01/08/2011 09:19 am
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Valued Member
Canada
250 Posts |
so these medal coins (such as the 1859) were accidentally struck this way right? It wasn't actually intended to be a medal?
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Valued Member
United States
294 Posts |
Quote:
so these medal coins (such as the 1859) were accidentally struck this way right? It wasn't actually intended to be a medal?
Are you asking about something specific? I thought you asking a general question. Let me expand a bit. Coin Alignment and Medal Alignment are terms to describe the orientation of the obverse of a disk in relation to its reverse design. There are no hard and fast rules that govern this. What differentiates a "coin" from a "medal" is this: A coin will always have the following- The name of the issuing country (the nation or sovereignty that issued the coin) The denomination (monetary value) The year it was mintedLike every rule, there are exceptions. Some countries have minted coins with a medal orientation. There are also die rotation errors where a die was improperly placed in the press and the rotation is off when the coins are struck. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2605 Posts |
Agree with soccerdad and omahaorange, disagree with sel.
"Medal coin" is a bit of an oxymoron. It would be either a medal or a coin. But coins may have either coin alignment or medal alignment.
Let me put it this way, 2cWorth, take Canadian change - it's all supposed to be in the medal alignment. If you take a US coin it has the coin alignment.
As far as I know most of the Canadian coinage were minted with the medal alignment, old or new, I am not really qualified to talk about exceptions of this rule.
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Valued Member
United States
294 Posts |
I happen to have a box of mixed coins sitting next to my desk. I know all US coins are struck in a coin alignment. A random sampling of other countries shows Canadian coins are struck in a medal alignment. Mexican coins are in a coin alignment. There is a German coin that is in a medal alignment. There is a couple as yet unidentified foreign coins that are also in a medal alignment. This is an example of a die rotation error: https://goccf.com/t/70458Like I said, there are no hard and fast rules. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2605 Posts |
Most of the world coins are in a "medal" alignment. Is it the time to update the terminology?  What do you think, footballdad?  |
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Pillar of the Community
 Canada
9865 Posts |
Prior to 1908 Canadian silver coins were coin alignment (up,down)
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Valued Member
Canada
311 Posts |
DBM you are right. If you look at Canadian coins with Queen Victoria they are all in coinage axis.
When I put my American coins in 2X2's and in the plastic pages I align my album and pages like a calendar. When you flip the page you see both side correctly. It woooorks great.
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Replies: 13 / Views: 2,048 |
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Posted 01/08/2011 12:13 am
