As a collector of French Art Nouveau medals, I have noted the recent appearance of "Pewter Tribute Medals" offered in the last few months by a single U.S. eBay seller. These pieces are inexpensive and appear to be modern reproductions of a variety of French medals, most notably of the Orpheus by Coudray.

Having purchased two of them, I observe that they are nicely done and quite accurate (Orpheus images attached). I have attempted to discover more about the origin and manufacture of these pieces by searching the internet and inquiring of the seller, but all websites lead right back to the eBay seller who is very polite but does not offer any details.

I'm curious to learn where and how these pieces are being made and seek input or information from E-Sylum readers.

I have had experience similar to L. Michael Lawrence - I bought two of these and then got interested in "the story." As he notes, the seller does not care to comment.

The seller also appears on the Etsy craft site and offers handmade items showing that he is quite the craftsman, and it may be a further clue to the source in that Etsy requires that new items offered be made by the seller. The Etsy site featuring handcrafts that incorporate materials such as the Orpheus medal is located at www.etsy.com/shop/blackjackdean .

Since I intend to write a bit about so-called tribute medals, I queried a number of dealers and others with some expertise regarding the product.

Dick Johnson delved into his wealth of numismatic definitions and said the work does not fit known definitions for tribute medal. I did however note that at least one commercial outfit, American Historical Society, which marketed gold coin replicas some years ago, used the term "tribute" to describe their offering. It would seem the proper term might be replica or copy when you consider that, according to Johnson, a tribute medal is issued in recognition of a living person, typically great or heroic.

Some of the experts who replied had not seen the items called "tributes", some thought they should be marked as replicas or copies even if the Hobby Protection Act does not include art medals, and Emmanuel Van Dorpe of the excellent ArtMedals.be site in Belgium, though he thought the Orpheus as seen in the newsletter "a good copy," said of other "tributes" he found on eBay: "They are poor copies, cheaply and badly made, and as you say, incorrectly named tribute medals."

Pendant made from Cocobolo with a Pewter version of Marianne by Dubois.

The Dubois engraving of Marianne is another very popular medal depicting the national symbol of France in helmet and armor. This pure lead free Pewter version is the way to go since it won't tarnish the way silver or bronze will and costs much less.