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Lr. 1540 — Alfred Sandham’s Medallic History of Montreal. Undated. White Metal.

Currency:CAD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:750.00 CAD Estimated At:2,500.00 - 3,000.00 CAD
Lr. 1540 — Alfred Sandham’s Medallic History of Montreal. Undated. White Metal.
SOLD
1,600.00CAD+ (288.00) buyer's premium + applicable fees & taxes.
This item SOLD at 2022 Apr 28 @ 21:14UTC-4 : AST/EDT

Buyer’s Premiums will be added on all items as per the Terms & Conditions of the sale. Invoices will be emailed out after all sessions of the Toronto Coin Expo Spring Sale have concluded.

McLachlan-132, Breton-186. 45.3mm. 42.6g. Plain edge. Unsigned. R.W. McLachlan relates the circumstances of this extremely rare medal’s production in Canadian Numismatics (1886):

“In 1875 Sandham intended issuing a series of medals commemorative of events in the history of Montreal. This was to have been the first of the series. They all were to bear the same obverse, but before the first impression was struck, he destroyed the dies and threw them away. They were found by a young collector, and after having been slightly touched up, some four or five impressions were struck off in white metal, and one in copper (emphasis our own). The design is not artistic, but had the purpose of issuing the series been carried out, we should have had an interesting group of medals.”

This is this first example this cataloguer has handled. One was included in the Saul Hender Collection. Another was sold as part of the Seminary of Sherbrooke Collection. Both are distinct from this piece. Perhaps just as significant is the fact that one was missing from Jeffrey Hoare Auction’s Sale #6 in February 1988, one of the finest collections of Canadian medals offered publicly in the last 40 years.
Both sides are originally toned in antique gunmetal and golden-olive patina. The rims and edges are nicely preserved, and the fields beneath the toning are free of obvious imperfections. This offering, one of four or five pieces struck, represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity for serious specialists.
From the Michael Joffre Collection of Canadian Historical Medals.