Category: Medal
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2024 Marine Emblems PMCs
A set showcasing three state emblems on cut-out medallions Obverse Here is a set of three brightly coloured Postal Medallic Covers. They work well together, so I’m giving them all equal billing rather than trying to highlight just one. These showcase the marine emblems of three states of Australia. I must admit, I didn’t realise…
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2024 Solar Eclipse Medallion
A beautiful memento with personal significance Eclipse A “Solar Eclipse” happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, casting a shadow on Earth that either fully or partially blocks the Sun’s light in some areas. This only happens occasionally, because the Moon doesn’t orbit in the exact same plane as the Sun and…
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St Florian Medallion
The Patron Saint of Firefighters Obverse The obverse features the text “SAINT FLORIAN” and “Patron Saint of Fire Fighters” around the edge. In the centre is a traditional image of Saint Florian pouring water out of a bucket onto buildings. Note: “firefighter” is usually written as one single word, both in UK and US English.…
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1986 Ukraine Chernobyl Liquidator’s medal
A chilling reminder of bravery This is my entry for Day 21 “U” of the Blogging from A-Z April Challenge!U = Ukraine, or USSR Chernobyl View of Chernobyl taken from the roof of a building in Pripyat, Ukraine. Photo from Wikipedia. The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (Ukrainian: Чорнобильська атомна електростанція) was a set of four…
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Christ died for our sins medallion
The meaning of Easter and Christianity in one image Obverse As a humble numismatist, I don’t think I am qualified to teach on theology. As a Christian, I can hopefully pen a few words on one of the key aspects of our faith without botching it too badly though! The Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and…
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2024 Lunar New Year PMC
The Year of the Dragon Lunar New Year The Lunar New Year is a very popular time for commemorative pieces of all kinds. Australia Post generally release at least one coin PNC, and at least one medallion PNC. As of 11th Feb 2024 (the morning after Lunar New Year), a search for “Year of the…
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1943 Cameroon 50 Centimes
A WWII African coin showing support for the exiled Free France government. French Cameroon What became Cameroon was originally claimed by Germany as “Kamerun” in the “Scramble for Africa” of the late 19th century. Soon after WWI was declared, French and British troops poured into the country. The dense equatorial rainforest was as much an…
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Ward Beam’s Daredevils / Lord’s Prayer
Two seemingly contrasting themes from a different time Obverse Here is an interesting token with two quite different sides. Bert Ward Beam was an event promoter from Celina, Ohio. In the 1920s, he started promoting “wreck-it” races in which $50 jalopies would race to the finish, but crash along the way. B.Ward Beam is credited…
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St. Eloi, Patron du Materiel medallion
St. Eloi is patron to more than numismatics Patron Saint I have written several pieces on Saint Eloi (Saint Eligius) as the Patron Saint of Numismatics. Saint Eloi is also revered as the patron of several other groups and professions. Today’s piece explores some of those. NewmanMinistry records St Eligius as Patron Saint of: That…
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The Last Supper medallion
The 100th piece on the site, a present from my daughter This is the 100th post on the site and I hope you’re enjoying these little snippets about coins and exonumia. I’ve been trying to think how best to mark this milestone – my most expensive coin? A coin from a country I haven’t covered…
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The Lord Bless You and Keep You medallion
A beautiful verse on a medallion. In the Old Testament, the book of Numbers presents an account of the 38-year period of Israel’s wandering in the desert following the establishment of the covenant of Sinai. The covenant of Sinai is detailed in the book of Exodus. It was God’s agreement with the Israelites, after Moses…
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2014 Centenary of King George Stamps PNC
A follow-up impressive medallion The 2013 Centenary of Commonwealth Postage Stamps PNC commemorated the very first Australian designed postage stamps. Those stamps featured the very Australian design of a kangaroo on a map of Australia. The Kangaroo and Map stamp issue, introduced in 1913, was considered by many not to be sufficiently respectful of Britain.…
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Pope Benedict XV Medallion
Between the Papal States and the Vatican We’ve looked at the last coins issued by the Papal States up to 1870, and the first coins issued by Vatican City State from 1929, but is there anything numismatically from the Holy See in between? Yes! (Otherwise this would be a very short post). There were five…
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2013 Centenary of Commonwealth Stamps
One of my favourite medallions, and stamps Prior to 1901, Australia was not a country, but a collection of British colonies. On 1st January 1901, the colonies all officially joined into the Commonwealth of Australia. Still with the British monarch as head of state, but with a federal government that could make its own decisions.…
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2023 Sydney Harbour Bridge 50th Anniversary
A PNC and PMC to mark the occasion The 20th October 2023 is the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Sydney Opera House. To commemorate the event, the Royal Australian mint released a non circulating, Aluminium-Bronze 50c piece. This is unusual as circulating 50c pieces in Australia are copper-nickel, so this one has a…
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SNCF TGV Medallion
One of the pin-up “supertrains” from my youth Ok, excuse me while I take a high-speed trip down memory lane tonight. I had a book featuring the French TGV train as a youngster, and it’s always been one of those dream trains for me. TGV stands for Train à Grande Vitesse, which translates as “High…
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Mother Teresa canonisation medallion
At 18, Mother Teresa moved to Ireland and the India, where she lived most of her life. On 4 September 2016, she was canonised by the Catholic Church as Saint Teresa of Calcutta. The anniversary of her death, 5 September, is her feast day. The Missionaries of Charity manages homes for people who are dying…
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King Charles III Coronation medallion
The coronation of King Charles III was on the 6th of May 2023. There was no shortage of commemorative souvenirs available made by many different organisations, both official and less so. I picked this piece up from Downies purely because I like the coronation emblem and the cypher featured on it. Here is the Coronation…
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Vegvisir / Viking Compass
Here is a piece I picked up just for the cool design: The medallion is the same on both sides. The design is “Vegvisir”, also known as “The Viking Compass” or “Norse Compass”. It is an interesting design which certainly looks Viking: an 8 pointed symbol with different designs on each arm made up of…
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1975 Cornish Festival medallion
Here is a medallion commemorating the 1975 Kernewek Lowender Cornish festival. This was the second such festival which started in 1973. The festival still runs every two years. 2023 was its 50th year. The Yorke Penninsula is on the South #Australia coast, just east of the capital city, Adelaide. Featured in the centre of the…
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With God all things are possible, token
One collection I have started to build, is of religious coins, tokens and medals. I am particularly working on collecting as many pieces with bible references as I can find. This piece not only includes a quote from scripture, but the biblical reference as well: With GOD, all things are POSSIBLE, is from Mark 10:27.…
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Saint Eligius Medallion
Here is my first medallion of Saint Eligius (which is also featured on my Saint Eligius page). The medallion features Saint Eligius working at his desk with coins. The desk is adorned with a Byzantine style cross. The other side shows a representation of one of the coins engraved by Eligius during his time as…