Todays Find - Medallion/Medal?

[DiggerBug]

Today's Find - Medallion/Medal?

Nana and I went to the park today. Found a bunch of junk and this medallion, medal thingy.
It appears to have been painted gold at one time. None of the gold came off during cleaning. There are no makers marks, writing, etc. It was about 6 inches deep.
The front has a crown on top of what looks like a lamp shade for a head eagle.
The back has a lot of things going on. Looks like a monkey on the left, swords in the form of a cross at the top, two headed looking eagle in the middle. The small crest on the eagle's chest has a terrier looking dog!
Even though we didn't find much we had a great time!

 

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[jscorpio]

Re: Today's Find - Medallion/Medal?

I'm still looking to Digger. I'm leaning towards Russian or Byzantine, but could be any number of origins. Can you make out what is on the crest?

 

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[DiggerBug]

Re: Today's Find - Medallion/Medal?

jscorpio - It looks like a dog to me. It's definitely something on all fours. Most everything I've seen has a lion on the shield where this dog is and a dragon where the monkey looking thing is.
Do you think they could actually be a worn out dragon and lion?

 

[West Jersey Detecting]

Re: Today's Find - Medallion/Medal?

Throught history many countries and provinces have used the double headed eagle as their symbol. Poland, Russia, Albania, Serbia and many others. There are 2 that are remarkably similar to the one you found. One is from thirteenth century Serbia, another from 15th Century England. Both would be highly unlikely to be uncovered in the US.

A more likely scenario would be a hand crafted artifact. Possibly the tip of a flag pole? Here is another possibility:

Casimir Pulaski arrived in America from Poland on July 23 1777, and applied to the Congress for commission, requesting to be placed under direct command of General Washington. He fought several skirmishes at Egg Harbor. Mortally wounded during the attack on British forces in Savannah, Pulaski died aboard the American Brig Wasp.


You may also want to look into the Freemasons, who also use the double headed eagle.

 

[DiggerBug]

Re: Today's Find - Medallion/Medal?

Neil, your right. The website below list the countries that use/used the double-headed eagle.

"The double headed eagle is a common symbol in heraldry and vexillology. Several Eastern European nations use this symbol today, having adopted this symbol from the Byzantine Empire." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-headed_eagle

I don't think there's any chance ole' Pulaski came through Alabama though the road in front of the park shows up as early as the 1829 map.

 

[texan connection]

Re: Today's Find - Medallion/Medal?

How do you keep the dirt out from under your fingernails? Hell, how do you keep fingernails?

 

[lordmarcovan]

Re: Today's Find - Medallion/Medal?

Say, great cleaning job on that! Cool find, too.

I thought "Polish" when I first saw it.

I think Neil might be getting warm with the Pulaski idea. Maybe there is some peripheral connection. Not necessarily to Pulaski himself, but something close to that.

 

[DiggerBug]

Re: Today's Find - Medallion/Medal?

Thanks Lord. I only used warm water, dish liquid and a soft toothbrush. Then I rubbed it with olive oil.