I've had requests from a couple of SS forum members to create a dedicated thread for the 2012 Transit of Venus medal set. This striking medal design appears to have fans here in the forum and there is interest in details about this medal set. But before I provide info and pictures, I just wanted to share some interesting info that I just learned which has to do with how these ultra high relief / detail Chinese medals are created. Up until today, I was erroneously under the impression that the only way that such high relief could be achieved was through casting. I believed that no amount of pressure from any mint's press could possibly result in such fine detail combined with such high relief...I was wrong. The vast majority of Chinese medals are actually pressed (repeatedly, many times for the creation of 1 single medal), according to medal expert Frank Wang and confirmed by Feng Hua Zeng an experienced medal dealer in China. Only a few are cast. The higher the relief, the more repeated pressing is required which also means that more can go wrong which means that even far higher quality standards must be enacted upon for the creation of these ultra high relief medals. It's also not surprising that on occasion, dies, hubs, and molds break due to the enormous stresses that they undergo with the many presses for each medal that is required to achieve such high relief and detail. The fact that ultra high relief medals like the Transit of Venus medal and others are pressed truly impresses me. So, without further ado, here's the Transit of Venus medal: Transit of Venus medal This medal is the first medal in China's medal history to commemorate a very rare celestial phenomenon called the transit of Venus. At some point during the production of the medals, the mold was damaged and therefore the actual mintage of the brass, copper, and silver versions of this medal was significantly reduced making these medals quite rare. Description: Year: 2012 (the year is not indicated on the actual medal) Mint: Shanghai Baituo Commemorative medal Co. Type: brass, copper, and .999 silver Size: 70mm Weight: brass = ? copper = ? silver is approx. 356 grams Planned mintage: brass and copper = 365 silver = 30 Actual mintage: brass and copper = 100 silver = 10 Designer: renowned engraver / sculptor Lin Feng The 2012 transit of Venus, when the planet Venus appeared as a small, dark disk moving across the face of the Sun, began at 22:09 UTC on 5 June 2012, and finished at 04:49 UTC on 6 June.[1] Depending on the position of the observer, the exact times varied by up to 7 minutes. Transits of Venus are among the rarest of predictable celestial phenomena and occur in pairs, eight years apart, which are themselves separated by more than a century:[2] The previous transit of Venus took place on 8 June 2004 (preceded by the pair of appearances on 9 December 1874 and 6 December 1882), and the next pair of transits will occur on 1011 December 2117 and in December 2125 - from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit_of_Venus,_2012 About the engraver / sculptor Lin Feng: Lin Feng is a renowned, award winning sculptor who has sculpted medals for mints in China and the USA. He is the sculptor of over 100 medals including the World Heritage Beijing Palace medal seen below in the pictures: Transit of Venus 2012 Transit of Venus brass medal 2012 Transit of Venus brass medal 2012 Transit of Venus brass medal 2012 Transit of Venus brass medal 2012 Transit of Venus brass medal 2012 Transit of Venus brass medal 2012 Transit of Venus copper medal 2012 Transit of Venus copper medal 2012 Transit of Venus copper medal 2012 Transit of Venus copper medal 2012 Transit of Venus copper medal 2012 Transit of Venus copper medal 2012 Transit of Venus silver medal in holder 2012 Transit of Venus silver medal in holder 2012 Transit of Venus silver medal in holder 2012 Transit of Venus silver medal in holder 2012 Transit of Venus silver medal in holder 2012 Transit of Venus silver medal in holder 2012 Transit of Venus silver medal in holder .
Great post amigo! Only one note: World Heritage medal you posted link to youtube video is SY palace, not Beijing.
The Transit of Venus is a rare celestial event occurring once in a lifetime. This medal celebrates that rare event, not the planets of the solar system. Therefore this is a unique medal, not part of a series. I will update my original post to include some info on that event. .
