Banco del Atlántico Medal. Numismatic Exhibition (1991)

This medal commemorates a numismatic exhibition sponsored by Banco del Atlántico, a Mexican credit institution active in the last decades of the twentieth century. Banks often supported coin and medal shows, both out of natural affinity with the subject and as cultural patronage.

Numismatic exhibitions gathered collectors, auction houses, and enthusiasts, and served as a meeting point for the guild; issuing a medal for the occasion was common practice.

Struck in copper in 1991, the piece belongs to the exhibition issues, of the kind handed out among attendees and participants as a souvenir of the event and a testimony to the numismatic interest of the era.

What it shows

The images registered in this listing do not correspond to what the title announces. On the reverse appears a winged angel seated on clouds, writing on a tablet, beneath the engraved legend A LA APLICACION PREMIO DE HONOR and with the engraver's signature in the exergue. The obverse shows a laurel wreath tied with a bow enclosing the legend in four lines LA AUTORIDAD POLÍTICA DE MÉXICO. By its iconography, it is a merit-award medal in a 19th-century style.

Context

The listing title describes it as a Banco del Atlántico medal issued for a numismatic exhibition in 1991, but neither face supports that: there is no bank logo, no year, no reference to the exhibition. Until the image is reconciled with the record, we do not assert motif or issuer: that would be inventing. The photographed piece corresponds to an academic award, not a bank keepsake.

Value and collecting

A commemorative medal is not legal-tender currency: its value depends on the metal, the condition, and demand, not on a face value. According to the record, this piece is copper, weighs 30.41 g, and measures 38.14 mm. Before buying or selling, it is worth comparing with specialized houses in the /tiendas directory and settling attribution questions with other collectors in the /foro.