Award Medals And The Like
Most collectors would agree that award medals and the like are a separate collectible category from so-called dollars. That being said, it is also true that the predecessors of the larger fairs and expos were the smaller, often forgotten, mostly agricultural fairs. Award medals are often the only numismatic remnants from these early fairs. The first two medals shown below are good examples.
Engraved and awarded for second best sow with litter of pigs under six months, 1872. 39.8 mm, Silver
New Jersey State Agricultural Society, Awarded to "E. P.Moore Newark For Architectural Drawings 1873", signed "G. H. Lovett", Silver, 34.75mm
Engraved and awarded to McLear & Kendall for Rockaway Wagon 1879. US mint Julian AM-15. 38.2 mm, Bronze
Engraved and awarded to Chas. H. Totty Co. Special Prize Vase of Rose Madame Butterfly Oct. 30, 1919. 37.2 mm, Silver Plate
Interstate Hay Palace Momence, Illinois. Unengraved. 34.3 mm, Silver
Spring Garden Institute Philadelphia. By Charles Barber. Unengraved. 40.8 mm, Bronze
Award medal from the 1900 San Antonio International Exposition First Award of merit. 44.0 mm, Bronze
This and the following example are not award medals made for engraving, but they do have the word "award" in their inscriptions. The word "Award" does not appear on any so called dollar in HK. Sesquicentennial International Exposition Philadelphia 1926. Very similar to HK458. 37.8 mm, Gilt
From the 1898 Trans-Mississippi And International Exposition. A medal commemorating the awarding of medals. A sort of meta award medal. 37.3 mm, Gilt
Different die from the one above and without date. Commemorating a gold medal awarded to the Stoughton Wagon Company. 37.3 mm, Gilt
Frederick Innes participation medal August 31, 1897. A space for engraving on the reverse, similar to an award medal. 38.2 mm, Aluminum
An engraved service medal that commemorates the Pardee Dam completion July 1927 June 1929. 37.3 mm, Silver