102646 | UNITED STATES & GREAT BRITAIN. Crystal Palace white metal Medal.

102646  |  UNITED STATES & GREAT BRITAIN. Crystal Palace white metal Medal/"So-Called Dollar." Issued 1854. Commemorating its removal and re-opening in Sydenham (41mm, 12h). By Pinches in London.

 

Britannia standing facing, head lowered left, holding key and caduceus, and opening the doors of Industry and Science; lamb to left, crested helmet to right; interior view of the palace in the background // CRYSTAL PALACE / OPENED MDCCCLIV, perspective view of the Crystal Palace.

 

HK 8 (listed as Extremely Rare); BHM 2549; Eimer 1847. PCGS SP-61. Extremely lustrous and brilliant in the fields. Compare to an NGC MS-63 that realized a total of $840 in Heritage's February 2023 British Medals Showcase Auction #61308, lot 22073 (and for which its current owner wants at least $1,260 [!]).

 

One of the earliest pieces listed in the popular reference on "so-called" dollars by Hibler & Kappen, this Crystal Palace type isn't actually American, but in fact, British. It commemorates the re-opening (in 1854) of the Crystal Palace in Sydenham in south London after it had been deconstructed and removed from Hyde Park in central London. In the United States, a version was constructed in New York City in the area that is now Bryant Park. It opened on 14 July 1853, and remained open intermittently until 5 October 1858 when it was destroyed by fire. Owing to the size of this medal and its tangential connection to the American edifice for which the original Crystal Palace served as the prototype, this type was erroneously included in HK.

 

Upload: 15 December 2023.