Thoughts on this Navy Civil War Campaign Medal

[MMcollector]

Numbered, split on planchette ring, straight "for service". I don't know what to think?

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/272529298239

 

[KurtA]

Well, based on that finish and the straight "For Service", that is a later manufactured US Mint product. "Shouldn't" be numbered, but that numbering looks pretty decent at first glance. I think if you compared the exact font of each of those individual numbers (mainly the "3" and "2", as 0's don't offer much to compare) to matching numbers on an original BB&B manufactured #'d USN/USMC campaign medal, you'd see some differences.

Could have been an old replacement the original recipient had re-numbered back in the 1930's, but with no sort of documentation or provenance, it's just a US Mint medal that had numbers added to it.

[Adam R]

Tom Halpin and Don Nixon were both notorious for adding bogus numbers to Studley medals as well as unnumbered US Mint medals. (They are both dead now, so I can mention their names.) They started their shenanigans nearly 40 years ago. I heard that Halpin used keys from old typewriters as his number and letter punches which he would strike with a hammer. Often this numbering is very sloppy, as is the case above. The Mint was much more precise when it numbered medals.

 

I'm guessing that this was originally an unnumbered US Mint medal that unfortunately crossed paths with Halpin or Nixon at some point.

[Adam R]

Here's an example of bogus M.No. numbering that was added to a Studley campaign medal.

[KurtA]

Tom Halpin and Don Nixon were both notorious for adding bogus numbers to Studley medals as well as unnumbered US Mint medals.

 

It's one thing to add rim numbers to "Studley" campaign medals, as in my opinion, they're unofficial junk. But an un-numbered US Mint -manufactured campaign medal is another matter. They're nice official vintage medals and adding a number just ruins them.

 

I remember seeing a Donald Nixon ad in the back of a coin magazine in the early 1980's offering a catalog of US military medals for two or three dollars. I sent the $ and never received anything in return. Perhaps it's a good thing. I probably would have bought a bogus campaign medal and not realized it was bad.

[KASTAUFFER]

On 1/26/2017 at 10:31 AM, Adam R said:

Tom Halpin and Don Nixon were both notorious for adding bogus numbers to Studley medals as well as unnumbered US Mint medals. (They are both dead now, so I can mention their names.) They started their shenanigans nearly 40 years ago. I heard that Halpin used keys from old typewriters as his number and letter punches which he would strike with a hammer. Often this numbering is very sloppy, as is the case above. The Mint was much more precise when it numbered medals.

 

I'm guessing that this was originally an unnumbered US Mint medal that unfortunately crossed paths with Halpin or Nixon at some point.

 

Gerry Day from Medford Oregon also added numbers to Studleys and was buddies with Don Nixon.

 

Kurt