This little Medalet is interesting in that on the Obv the legend reads:
'STRUCK AT THE EXHIBITION MINT' and on the reverse it reads:
NATIONAL EXHIBITION 1897 BRISBANE.
I wonder how long there was a 'Mint' at the Ekka and what else was struck there?
I've found a similar one on eBay, but the listing says it's silver, and mine is definitely not silver. The coating is peeling off, metal underneath is black, with a little bit of pink in places.
This gives a better idea of what it should look like.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1897-Brisbane-Exhibition-17mm-medalet-silver-gVF-/380460139688?pt=AU_Exonumia_Medals_Tokens&hash=item58953104a8
The Carlisle catalogue lists these medalets as number C1897/77. They are reported as having been struck in bronze, silvered-bronze, gilt-bronze and solid silver; yours sounds like the silvered-bronze type. Mintages are unrecorded for all four metals, perhaps not surprising given their method of manufacture and distribution.
Back then, having a "mint" operating at a big international exhibition was pretty normal. They'd pump our souvenirs for sale to spectators, who would be wowed and amazed at seeing the mechanical monstrosity in action - in concept, a very early prototype of the "mint your own" press the RAM uses. You can find similar souvenir pieces for many of the great exhibitions of the 1800s. In this case, we can be reasonably confident the "mint" was part of the industrial display of Stokes and Sons, the Melbourne-based token and medal manufacturer. This is because exactly the same "Exhibition building" motif was used on two other medals of 1897: the 22mm C1897/7 also "struck at the Exhibition mint" though with much nicer die-work, and the 31mm C1897/29, which has the standard Stokes "Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee" obverse also used on many other medals.
This largest piece does not specifically state "Made at the Exhibition mint"; I suspect they were made on their main presses back in Melbourne and brought up here for sale at the show, and that their "portable press" could only strike the smaller pieces.
Wow! :thank_you: Sap, you're a mine of information as usual. :icon_e_biggrin:
And you might want to move this thread into the "Australian medals" forum, rather than the "World Medals" one. I'd move it but I don't have thread moving/editing authority.