“The easiest way to determine how much your 14K gold is worth is to weigh it in grams and multiply that by $91 which is what a gram of 14K gold is worth at the moment.   I don’t know what this medal is worth above its gold value.“.    his is actually not true, most people think this too but it is definitely not true.  Gold may be at $91 a gram for 14k but who would pay you $91 a gram?   I sell gold and silver quite regularly and the best I get is 85% of spot, the guy I sell to sells it to a refinery and they give him 93% which is very good. You may be able to se up a private individual who is hoarding hold but no one will pay you spot,  they have to make a living too 

Wow thank you so much for all your information and resources! I am delighted that you concur with my theory about this medal. I also thought the engraving looked like it could be the same hand. I especially appreciate your leads on Robert Nelson and your research referrals. Much needed by me.   I've been a reader of the forum for years and this mystery finally pushed me to join, thank you! If I can return your hospitality, please let me know. And, I will take you up on your offer if I get down to Whittier again, as long as the rest of the rounds are on me. Same offer to you if you are ever in the Sacramento area.

Yes. It should be an 82nd. But, It may be my etes, but it looks like it could have some dimension. Just wondered if it was theater made.

Great, thank you sprprops. It was one of those items which gave off red flags which I couldn't put to words.         

I saw this answer on Reddit and thought it was the most plain speak:   1. Market price: I own this item and I need cash for it right now. I'll go to an antique dealer and sell it to them. This is the lowest price, but also the price that many of the appraisers are giving on Roadshow.   2. Auction price: I'm interested in selling this item. I'll do so at auction. OR: I'm looking for something vaguely like this. Let me go to an auction and see if there is anything [in vague generally category] that meets my needs that I can bid on. This is a middle price. Also, keep in mind this is really two different prices, one for the buyer and one for the seller, since the auction house also takes a cut/charges fees.   3. Insurance value: I really want a an autographed Babe Ruth rookie card. And I want it now. I need to find someone who has one and offer them enough money to part with it. This is the insurance price, since the goal of insurance is to be able to, reasonably quickly, put you back in the position you were in before. This will be the highest of the prices.

Your July 5 Cardenas Amphitrite medal is authentic, except for being reribboned.   Phase 2,  same hand as engraved my similar medal to Passed Assistant Engineer David  Jenkins, a nice example of an original ribboned medal  and case.      If you decide to get his service file,  Geoff at Golden Arrow offers a discount for USMF members to scan service files at St. Louis and is competitive with what the NARA bureaucrats charge.  Except with Geoff you know you'll get every page in Nelson's file and color scans, not xerox copies.   Very possibly, one of these two is your man-   Nelson Robert -- [Service Number] 001272396, [Date of Enlistment] 04/27/1898,   or Nelson Robert -- [Service Number] 001865973, [Date of Enlistment] 05/08/1886.    Congrats on getting an uncommon reverse Sampson medal to a ship with a cool story!    And welcome to the USMF, I see you're also in CA.   If you're near Tubby's in Whittier, I'll buy the first round.    You might want to consider this for your library-   https://www.amazon.com/US-Naval-Awards-Spanish-American-War/dp/B0DXCKWPN8  

More on the way 

Not sure what Ray was doing in here but he left a mark, any ideas on this random observation? 

A bit of a bonus, early Carlisle and a big surprise for me was a Tenite (plastic) version. Out of all of the other tins was a very nice copper version with the large Sulfanilamide text hiding among them all. I had a feeling the Tenite type was going to be a pain to find but I guess I got lucky for once. I’m gradually ticking off one of each variant, don’t think I’m far off now. 

Restaurant Defibrillator, King's Lynn, jolly ole' England