Topic: Great Wall 1984 3.3 oz. Silver Medal - Two Versions

[KonaJim]

I received two interesting messages from dealer/collectors.  I hope to be able to post pictures of both versions.

Hi:
 There were two designs for these medals. The first one was 3.3  ounces of silver like this one, but the design was not judged to be artistic enough by the mint. This medal is of the second design. I have the only surviving medal of the first design, and I have three of this design in silver. I also have several of the copper trial strikes of this design. Your medal is the only one I have ever seen for sale on the secondary market. The mintage of 68 is not correct, my sources at the mint indicate only about 24 silver medals ever left the mint, one of which was stolen from its original owner in 1991. Regards, Midway

Hi Jim
 Thanks for taking a look. There are two versions of the 1984 great wall medal, the version you have and the unlisted cheng catalogue version - I was told by Ngc the china mint does not regard the red book as absolute and has provided Ngc with other catalogues to reference these medals, hence  why more medlar are being graded. A little history regarding the version I have: several years ago a collector dealer offered the 2 pieces i know of, one went to majestic, which he displays at shows, and one to me. I just sent mine to grade the last month along with the great wall bronze version. There was also a shanghai auction in September which there were both
 versions in silver raw.  The hammer was $14k on yours and $17k on the version I have, I was told there were less than 50 produced so maybe that is the reason for a little higher value. I don't mind if you post the medals, I Have met some forum members at various shows I set up at and enjoy reading the posts there.
Thx
Jonah

[PandaOrLunar]

...I also have several of the copper trial strikes of this design...

...the great wall bronze version...

Got pictures of the copper trial and bronze versions?

[KonaJim]

The only picture I have right now is of the silver coin I have listed on Ebay.

[comeaux]

Must be totally awesome to own such a phenomenal coin that nobody else has ... tremendous numismatic piece.

[badon]

I have spent the last several years looking for one, but by the time someone decides to sell, it was in the 5 figure range. No surprise there though, I sit on stuff too if I think it's undervalued :)

By the way, the Great Wall medal is a Chinese scenery issue, as are the pagodas (interesting mintage info here):

http://modernchinacoins.com/modernchinacoins/MEDALS.html

The pagodas are still obtainable, last I heard.

[MrOrganic]

Must be totally awesome to own such a phenomenal coin that nobody else has ... tremendous numismatic piece.

I do know of another owner of one of these.

[badon]

I think in this context "nobody" means "somebody who is not me" :)

[KonaJim]

Version 1

[KonaJim]

Version 2

[PandaOrLunar]

So the other side of both medals are the same?  Pictures?

[KonaJim]

Yes, the other side appear to be the same.

[r3globe]

I have spent the last several years looking for one, but by the time someone decides to sell, it was in the 5 figure range. No surprise there though, I sit on stuff too if I think it's undervalued :)

By the way, the Great Wall medal is a Chinese scenery issue, as are the pagodas (interesting mintage info here):

http://modernchinacoins.com/modernchinacoins/MEDALS.html

The pagodas are still obtainable, last I heard.

Anybody knows the mintage of the 1995 UN Women’s Conference 2-medal set? Are they popular?

[Underbidder]

Don't know, but they share a similar design with the very popular 1985 UN Womens coin.  Also, the fact they were minted in 1995, a great year, makes me think they could be more scarce than believed, and a sleeper.

[comeaux]

I think in this context "nobody" means "somebody who is not me" :)

Yes badon the “nobody” is me and about 99.99 % of us ! 
Look up “total epicness” in the dictionary and it says “see the 1984 Great Wall Coin” !!! 

Anybody knows the mintage of the 1995 UN Women’s Conference 2-medal set? Are they popular?

I don’t know what the name of the book is because it’s all in Chinese writing but the 458 page Chinese coin book says 20,000 but maybe it is much less.   

[Underbidder]

 Based on how rarely they have come up for sale ( not often), I'm guessing less, or maybe they were lost to some fate, since 1995 is a notorious year for that.