100649 | GREAT BRITAIN. Victoria with Horatio Nelson wooden Medal.

100649 | GREAT BRITAIN. Victoria with Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson wooden Medal. Issued circa 1887. The Golden Jubilee and the Battle of Trafalgar (75mm, 46.01 g, 12h). After T. Webb.

 

VICTORIA REGINA ET IMPERATRIX, crowned, veiled, and draped bust of Victoria left / HOR VICECOM NELSON OB PATRIAM PVGNANDO MORT OCT XXI MDCCCV, bare head of Nelson left. Edge: Plain.

 

Cf. BHM 577 (for Nelson type as obv.); cf. Eimer 957 (same). As made. Dark blackish-brown glossy surfaces, with some hints of red in the grain. Extremely rare and interesting wooden muling of types.

 

Wooden medals aren't unheard of, though not often encountered. The production of these non-metal medals involved steaming the wooden 'planchets,' then pressing them under great pressure while the design took shape. In this case, an obverse type from late in Victoria's reign was paired with a much earlier medal honoring Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson. More puzzling is the fact that the dies used were of completely different modules, with the reverse being much smaller in diameter than the obverse, as can be seen by all of the empty edge space on the reverse. Quite possibly this served as a trial piece for the wooden process, simply utilizing whatever dies could be located.

 

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