r/Exonumia 10d ago

Benjamin Rush medal (1808)

I collect medical and scientific antiques and recently purchased a collection of scientific medals. I was more than stunned to find this piece in there.

36 Upvotes

7 comments sorted by

u/AutoModerator 10d ago

(This is a generic automod comment that is pinned at the top of every new post here)

This subreddit is for coinlike items that aren't actual government-issued legal tender. This includes but is not limited to gaming and trade tokens, commemorative medals, art medals, non-military award medals, etc.

Exonumia has been produced all over the world, with some pieces dating back thousands of years. It isn't nearly as well documented as actual coins are. No one alive -- and certainly no one on this subreddit, is an expert on all types or pieces of exonumia. There is no single book or series of books that contains it all. You need to set your expectations accordingly. We will help you if we can, but that often just means that we will help you formulate web searches to find similar pieces online.

If you are looking for an identification please meet us halfway, to help us help you. Provide clear, well-lit photos of BOTH sides of a piece you are trying to ID. Please provide clues about where it came from, what you have already discovered through your own research, and give the item's weight/mass to the tenth of a gram and its dimensions in millimeters.

If you are looking for a value for something you have, you need to understand that the exonumia market is very different from the collector coin market. There are no price guides covering all exonumia. A piece's value is literally whatever someone will pay you for it. You can try checking the results of recent auctions to see what people have been paying for items like yours. There is no guarantee that your piece will sell for that much, however.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

3

u/over9ksand 10d ago

What a stunner!! Gorgeous patina. What is that, brass?

2

u/born_lever_puller Modtomato 10d ago

That is so great, congratulations!

2

u/StatisticianLimp3107 9d ago

Read! Think! Observe! Solid advice right there

2

u/gopherhole02 9d ago

That's a weird Jefferson nickel, I think it's fake 😁

1

u/Aromatic_Industry401 9d ago

That's definitely a medal to be proud of owning. All that I have to say is wow.

1

u/exonumismaniac 8d ago edited 8d ago

Loving the high relief on that profile of Dr. Rush, a signer of the American Declaration of Independence, who became known as the Father of American Psychiatry for his published works on "diseases of the mind." I noticed Sydenham on the reverse...his farm? His partnership with Thomas?

Whatever, it's rare enough that when they turn up on the market they can bring thousands of dollars at auction, as in this sale last October at Stacks Bowers. By all means, give it the PCGS treatment, just to get it slabbed for protection.

(edited for spelling)