I. Varieties of Goldfish Medals
2. Another variety of the original brass medal, with modification to the die (scarce)
3.Restruck brass medal with frosting effect (reverse defect from the die)
4. Silver medal (variety 1), 22.3 grams without packaging
5.Silver medal (variety 2)
6. Silver medal (variety 3)
7. Gold plated restrike, striking followed by plating (about three varieties, with frequent die defect in the middle of the reverse)
8. Silver plated restrike (with the contrast between mirror and frosting, plating before striking, with frequent die defect on the reverse)
9. Silver plated brass restrike, no frosting, striking before plating (about three varieties, with frequent die defect in the middle of the reverse)
10. 1990 silver medal (variety 1)
11. 1990 silver medal (variety 2)
II. Mr. Feng's comments
1.
Shanghai Mint produced a large
number of gilt medals at a later time, basically in the 1990's. Judging from
the medals themselves, their plastic pouches and boxes, we can conclude that
gold and silver plated medals were restrikes.
2.
It is possible that the mint recycled
brass medals stored for many years (normally with some oxidation) by plating
them with gold and silver before selling them on the market.
3.
The mint would keep some dies (used
but still in good condition, meeting production standards), and use them to
strike commemorative medals after a long interval of many years.
4.
Some varieties have not been
seen, but they may exist. That's why I remarked "about 3 varieties".
5.
Some of the silver plated
goldfish medals have contrasting mirror and frosting, but they are
considerably lighter than silver medals. The silver medals weigh about 22.3
grams without packaging. The plate-then-strike technique was adopted by
Shanghai Mint rather late.
6.
Restrikes often have die
defects in the middle of the reverse (the side with the goldfish drawing). This
may have resulted from production in large quantity, with less strict quality
control on finished products. Such defects were found in other Shanghai
Mint commemorative medals, too. In the 1980's, the mints had been rigorous in their
work. Proof commemorative medals had high prices, with strict quality standards. Defects like these were seldom found then.
7.
(This is the answer to
my question on how the Dragon Eye has different aquatic plant
shapes) The different shapes of the aquatic plant should
have occurred during die making. When a mint strikes a large number of coins,
each die has its strike life, and many sets of dies are needed. Differences can
occur during the replication of working dies. This often happens to modern
Chinese coins and medals. My guess is the following: the mintage of the
original brass medals was small; the silver medals with one goldfish on the
reverse were probably struck a little later than the original brass medals,
with unknown mintage, using several sets of dies; and the "leaf missing
with stem connecting the tail" variety may be the result of the die worker
adding a line (stem) to the "leaf missing with no stem connecting the
tail" variety, to make it look better.
8.
(This is an answer to my
question about badon's remarks on the cartwheel effect on the silver plated
set.) The brightness and smoothness of the mirror field vary on many coins and
medals, mostly caused by worn dies or different manual polishing. Many factors
can lead to radiating striations and halo effects due to uneven surface on the
coins/medals, such as: the physical properties of the material used, high/low striking pressure,
precision of die mounting, uniformity of striking pressure, precision of die
polishing, the relief and field on the dies. The mints have been striving to
improve the quality of the surface on large silver coins, to reduce radiating
striations and edge burrs. Recent internal documents from Shanghai Mint touched
on these topics. I wrote specifically on the issues of radiating striations on silver
coins.
9.
Shanghai Mint has precedents of
"brass before silver". Brass medals were struck first, and then the
same dies or replicated dies were used to strike commemorative medals with precious
metals, for example: 60 mm God of Longevity, 60 mm Great Wall, various small
lunar medals, and the 80 mm God of Longevity from Shenyang Mint. The reason to
use brass first was probably to test the market with cheap material, to avoid
the risk of precious metal products with poor sales. Restrikes are usually
classical and distinctive products from the mints, with no specific timing to commemorate
a person or an event.
10.
It requires a comprehensive
view to determine the sequence of strikes of coins and medals. In
addition to the coins and medals themselves, original packaging, boxes, COA,
promotion booklets from the mints, internal documents and similar coins/medals
have to be taken into consideration. The more information gathered, the closer
the judgment. For example, after obtaining precise information, it was found
out that some large size kilo gold and silver coins were struck by
Shenzhen Guobao Mint using dies from Shanghai or Shenyang Mint for gold and
silver coins released years ago.
Without access to internal documents at the
mints, the ocean of coins and medals can only be explored by collectors through
tireless efforts.
