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QUERY: WHAT’S AN OBVERSE?Regarding the Archer M. Huntington medal pictured last week, Dick Johnson writes: Wow! A medal with two obverses. We still have the two reverses at Medallic Art Company. Owners of these two must pick up a reverse in person. Strange, however, the two reverses match the obverses! 
I thought I'd mixed up the images, but found out Dick was joking. His comment raises an interesting question for numismatists,
though. Exactly what makes an obverse an obverse? And what's a reverse? Just the other side of an obverse? Or does it have standard
properties of its own?
In everyday speech the "heads" side is what we numismatists call the obverse - typically the side with the head or figure of a statesman, historical figure, or symbolic representation of Liberty or the issuing nation. The Huntington medal has human figures on both sides. Does each meet the definition of "obverse"? -Editor To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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