1. BULLION MEDALS, ROUNDS A medallic item issued not for its commemorative, historical, souvenir or art design aspect, but for the bullion it contains. When these are circular they are called by the unimaginative name of “rounds.”
2. CHALLENGE COINS Created for members St. Hubert Medallion of a military unit, a custom-designed medal of roughly silver-dollar size to be carried by members or supporters of that unit.
3. ART MEDALS A medallic item made from artists’ models, generally multiple struck and given a patina finish to enhance its total appearance.
4. AWARD MEDALS A Saint Hubert item bestowed upon a recipient in a contest, race, game or other sporting event, or for the participation in a group effort in some notable activity.
5. MILITARY MEDALS The full spectrum of medals issued by or for the military, including campaign, service medals, wound medals, and decorations of honor. Such medals issued for American military are administrated by the Institute of Heraldry and it is necessary to remain on their bid list to be notified when these medals are required.
6. ANNIVERSARY MEDALS A medallic item issued on the occasion
of a significant anniversary; this includes product anniversaries as well as the anniversary of the issuer organization to memorialize its founding and long-term existence.
7. PLAQUETTES A square, rectangular, or nearly so, medallic item smaller than eight inches (or more precisely, 20 centimeters), it is an art object struck from a die bearing a bas-relief design. When such an item is greater than 8 inches and less than 24 inches it is cast and called a PLAQUE; larger than 24 inches it is a TABLET.
8. MEDALLIONS A large medal, round or nearly so, greater than 80 millimeters (3 3/16-inch). Naive people think the larger the medal the greater its importance. Not true. Importance comes from the status of the sculptor-medalist, the rendition of his bas-relief design and its execution.
9. DECORATIONS, DECORATIONS OF HONOR An elite class of medals, usually those of exceptional design, embellishment and composition – including suspension by ribbons – bestowed for exceptional service or tenure,
and sometimes granted the recipient special privileges.
10. MEDALLIC OBJECTS A work of art inspired by the medallic genre. There are few restrictions on medallic objects or their creation, other than perhaps, they must be permanent, capable of being reproduced, usually made of metal and, in most issues, have multiple sides. They are MODERN ART objects.
11. SO-CALLED DOLLARS Originally political medals struck in silver similar to a United States silver dollar including such items as Bryant dollars (1896, 1900) and Lesher or Referendum dollars (1900-1901). Later the term was corrupted to include any medal similar in size and relief – but not necessarily similar in composition – to the U.S. silver dollar (1 1/2-inch or 38mm). It could
be considered a SOUVENIR MEDAL.
12. ART BARS, COINED INGOTS Bullion items issued in shape and imitation of ingots; design is not that important since, ultimately, they will be melted for their metal content. The term “art” in the name misleads most people, however they are widely collected.
13. CONVENTION MEDALS, CONVENTION BADGES, LADY’S BADGES A medallic item, often of fraternal nature, bestowed upon delegates of a convention or meeting. Usually attached to ribbons and headers, convention badges were often designed with several components: bars, drops, pendants and such. All are intended to be worn, thus they have some method of fixing to a garment. Medallic Art Company invented a lady’s badge of half size for the American Numismatic Association and made a COLLECTOR SET of four medals (without loops) struck in two metals (bronze, silver) of the two sizes.
14. RELIGIOUS MEDALS A most popular theme with a heritage extending back in history for hundreds of years. Like religious paintings, religious medals portray Saints with rules of depicting them with halos and rays. Catholic religion encourages wearing medallic items around the neck.
15. CROSSES A medallic item with several arms; often in the form of a crucifix. The use of a cross for a medallic item has wide appeal, mostly for its symbolism of Christianity and talismanic quality.
