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Dewey Medal Opinions Please


Wade16
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Javelin4life

Looks right as day to me. As Kurt said, although missing the ring, has the correct patina, Deweys facial dimensions are correct, and the lettering on the rim is the correct size and style. Congrats on a great addition!

 

Alex

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Javelin4life

Mine from my collection for letter comparison

 

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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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I appreciate all you members input. I think the medal is more than a broken ring, it is part of our nation's history. It would be nice if it was complete, but it still represents this sailor's life and his willingness to defend his country. I like the Blacksmith rate also. I can't imagine there were too many of them per ship.

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Great purchase!! Though difficult, there is a chance of finding a top bar and repairing this. Ribbon is fairly easier to obtain. Keep an eye out for a top bar at your next militaria show. They show up from time to time in insignia junk boxes. An experienced fine jeweler can solder another ring to the planchet without damaging the patina, and if they're niche is estate or antique jewelry repair, they'll be able to age the ring to match the patina of the planchet.

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I think investing in a decent repro medal and cannibalizing it for the top bar is the best way to go. The chance of finding an original top bar is about zero.

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aerialbridge

Welcome to the original. attributed Dewey Medal caretaker club. I saw that medal on ebay. It first sold and that buyer apparently backed out, and then relisted and you got it for IMO a good price. A disclosed Dewey Baltimore repro- that looked really good as far as the brooch looking like an original and the planchet (maybe a later Tiffany restrike) sold for just under $400 several weeks ago. When you find one at that price point, you'll have your brooch and still be in good shape IMO for what you'll have spent on the medal.

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aerialbridge

Too bad you just missed that decent, restrike Dewey ebay auction that you could have used to complete your medal for 400 bucks. Here's the brooch from that medal compared with authentic brooches from two original, attributed Tiffany-struck Deweys.

post-18406-0-62463800-1561114763_thumb.jpg

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aerialbridge

Here is a photo by eminent collector and dealer Adam. R. of an original Dewey medal from a two-medal group formerly of his collection and recently sold that I had the pleasure of seeing at a recent SOCALOMs meeting. I've yet to see a fake that comes close to duplicating the impressed lettering of a real Dewey from 120 years ago.

post-18406-0-01824600-1561115514_thumb.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...
aerialbridge

If you were the ebay winner of that Dewey repro for $122.50 I think you did okay for a filler brooch and the ring for the planchet. The brooch looks pretty good from the front, the back pin is nothing like an original and the rings are too thin (particularly the center one, which is also too large circumference) but you would have a medal, not a planchet, until something better comes along. You could probably even defray the cost of getting your replacement brooch and ring by selling the planchet for at least $50 on ebay if removing the ring from it does not noticeably damage it.

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