Category: Medal
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The Falls Impressions medallion cover
A post office initiative and celebration of local nature The Falls, Orange The town of Orange is in the Central Tablelands region of inland New South Wales, Australia. Orange is just over 250km (160 miles) west of the state capital Sydney. The town (and local parish area) was named by Surveyor General Thomas Mitchell, after…
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Happy Halloween medallion
A memento of All Hallows Eve Halloween What is now Halloween has its origins in the Celtic Samhein (pronounced a few different ways, including “Sow-wen” “Sau-ihn”, and “Sow-unn”, but NOT “Sam-hane”). Samhain was a pastoral/harvest festival celebrated across the Celtic world on the evening of October 31st and into November 1st with ceremonial fires and…
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2018 XC Falcon Cobra 40 Years PMC
The last two-door falcon Falcon history In the 1950s, the Australian-built Holdens (FX, FJ, FE and FC) outsold the imported Fords of the era – primarily due to the cheaper cost of local production vs importing. Seeing the new “Falcon” being developed in Detroit, USA, Ford Australia immediately liked the new car. Ford built a…
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Armor of God medallion
A very symbolic passage from Ephesians St Paul’s letter to the Ephesians For a brief time at the end of his second missionary journey, and then for more than two years on his third missionary journey, Paul ministered to the church at Ephesus (Acts 18:18–21; 19:1–41). Ephesus was a city in what is now modern-day…
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Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium medallion
A souvenir of a family day out Sea Life is a chain of sea life-themed aquarium attractions owned by UK Merlin Entertainment, with over 53 (as of 2017) around the world. Merlin also run Madam Tussauds, Legoland, the Dungeon, Peppa Pig World and London Eye to name a few. (Information taken from Wikipedia, as none…
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2024 Around Australia Flights PMC
A medallion with spinning propellors Cover This Postal Medallion Cover (PMC) from Australia Post commemorates the centenary of the first two flights to circumnavigate Australia. The piece uses a four-colour palette: The colour theme works really well and contrasts the two events nicely with each other. The reverse has details of the flights on a…
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2023 OSIRIS-REx medallion
An ongoing space mission Bennu (Asteroid Bennu, from Nature.com) Asteroid Bennu is a small, near-Earth asteroid that passes close to Earth about every six years. Bennu is a carbon-rich asteroid that is about one-third of a mile (half a kilometre) wide at its equator. There is also a possibility of Bennu impacting Earth towards the…
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RFS Macarthur Zone Challenge Coin
A fire brigade challenge coin from New South Wales, Australia Challenge Coins Immediately after posting the Code 9 “Senses” Challenge coin, I was asked “What is a Challenge Coin?” Challenge coins originated in the military, although how far back is hard to be certain. Peter Morrell goes back to Roman times and how some of…
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Code 9 “Senses” Challenge coin
A grounding tool to help first responders The Code 9 Foundation From Code9PTSD.org.au: “The Code 9 Foundation provides a place of support for current & veteran professional first responders & 000 operators (Emergency call takers)* who live with PTSD, depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions that result from their service to the community. This…
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2024 Koalas in Danger PMC set
PMCs helping save Australia’s endangered Koalas PMC The set comprises three PMCs, which each feature cute images of koalas. On the back of each is the (same) text: “Our iconic Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) is facing a crisis. In its native habitat on the eastern and southern coastal regions of the mainland, the Koala is at…
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Saint Anthony of Padua Medal
A very large medal I hopefully won’t lose (Painting of St Anthony, from Catholic.org) St Anthony of Padua St. Anthony of Padua is one of the Catholic Church’s most popular saints. Saint Anthony of Padua, patron saint of lost and stolen articles, was a powerful Franciscan preacher and teacher. He’s typically portrayed holding the child…
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2006 Commonwealth Games PMC set
The first (medallion) PMCs from Australia Post Timeline to the first PMCs (Image of the first page of the first Philatelic Bulletin and issue 282 of the Stamp Bulletin, courtesy Australia Post) Firstly, this piece is about the first official Australia Post issued PMC. I am aware of other PMCs issued by other countries /…
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2019 PMC Moon Landing 50th Anniversary
A big medallion for a big milestone July 20th, 2019 was the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 astronauts landing on the moon. This was the first time that humans had set foot on our nearest celestial neighbour. It also fulfilled the goal, uttered by US President Kennedy on May 25, 1961, that: “I believe…
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2024 Marine Emblems 2 PMCs
A second series of Marine Emblem PMCs with cut-out medallions In March this year, Australia Post released a series of three “Marine Emblems” PNCs, featuring: Now, in July, they have followed up with three more medallion PNCs, this time featuring: These three have the same overall design as the earlier releases, however, use paler colours…
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19th Century German Baptism Medallion
A beautiful old pewter medallion Heads or tails? Some coins and medallions have a clear obverse and reverse. On some it is harder to define. The US Mint, I think only partly helpfully, explains: “Obverse (heads) is the front of the coin and the reverse (tails) is the back”. Ok, so if it has a…
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1oz Bismuth Ingot
A fascinating metal, although not found in many coins Bullion Traditionally, silver, and gold coins have been used as a store of wealth. With the value being in the metal itself, any object made of gold, for instance, tends to be valuable. Coins are convenient in that they are solid, compact ways to store that…
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2023 Australia King’s Birthday Medallion PNC
A PNC for a holiday A change in holiday In 2023, Australia Post released a medallion PNC to commemorate the King’s Birthday. This was a momentous occasion as it was the first time in 72 years that the holiday was for a King’s birthday, rather than a Queen. As someone from the Commonwealth, my head…
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Proverbs: “A friend loves at all times” medallion
A positive piece to give a friend. Medallions with bible quotes One of my favourite collections is my folder of pieces with biblical quotes. I posted earlier this year about a medallion depicting The Last Supper my daughter gifted me for Christmas. This time, I have another piece with a biblical reference, which I am…
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2016 PNC 400th Anniversary Dirk Hartog’s landing
A large medallion for a large milestone Unknown South Land (Early Dutch map of Australia (Hollandia Nova) showing much of the west and north of the country. Map from Swaen.com) Aboriginal people are known to have occupied mainland Australia for at least 65,000 years. It is widely accepted that this predates the modern human settlement…
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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…