Medal Great Britain Dassier Kings and Queens of England

These are fascinating medals. They depict the Kings and Queens of England between 1066 and 1734. The originals were produced by famed sculptor J A Dassier (1676 to 1763) as a set of 34 separate pieces of medallic art. All of them measure about 40 mm in diameter and are made of bronze. Once in a while you find them plated with silver or gold.

To determine value, you must first determine what you've got! There have been (at least) three separate production runs of these beautiful pieces:

- Dassier originals, struck in 1731
- Thomason and Marrian reproductions, struck around 1830
- Modern replicas by the London Mint, struck about 1960

None of them are particularly expensive, but, as always, better condition means higher pricing. Very approximately:

DASSIER (1731) and THOMASON (1830) MEDALS (one medal):
worn: $10 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $30
well preserved: $80
fully uncirculated: $200

The original medals (1731) are worth a bit more than the Thomason (1830) reproductions, but the modern replicas are very inexpensive:

MODERN (1960) MEDALS (one medal):
worn: less than $1 US dollar approximate catalog value
average circulated: $1
well preserved: $2
fully uncirculated: $4

To help determine if you have an original, old reproduction, or modern replica, consider the three separate images below. The first image shows a comparison of the three types. There are few noticeable differences between the 1731 and 1830 medals, but the 1960 medals are clearly of inferior quality.

The second and third images below show collections of original and modern medals, respectively. The distinguishing features are easy to tell apart when you have a direct comparison as shown here. But, without side-by-side simultaneous observation, it might be difficult to tell if you've got something worth $100 or $1. Watch out!

CoinQuest thanks Stacks Bowers and Baldwins for use of their photos.




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