Medals of Alex Shagin
Alex Shagin was born near Leningrad, Soviet Union (now Saint Petersburg, Russia) in 1947. He graduated from the Vera Mukhina School of Arts and Design in Leningrad in 1972, and then designed commemorative coins and medals for the Leningrad Mint, including popular medals for the Apollo-Soyuz space ventures and for the Moscow Olympics – these are but a few of his designs. He immigrated to the United States in 1980, and since then has worked as a freelance medallic artist in Southern California. He was the 1995 recipient of the J. Sanford Saltus Award for Signal Achievement in the Art of the Medal from the American Numismatic Society. Most of the pieces offered here are cast by the artist and signed and numbered by hand-engraving.
ShaginÕs medals are seldom seen in the marketplace. We expect that published ÒmintageÓ statistics reflect the original advertising and nothing more, with examples cast a few at a time, as orders came in. Many Shagin creations are probably still in the collections of those who bought them at issuance, accounting for their rarity. The nine cast pieces below comprise 2-3 times as many Shagins as IÕve had in the previous 30 years. For more on Alex Shagin see the Wikipedia article on him at and Donald ScarinciÕs discussion of his work at a recent FIDEM Congress.
1984 George Orwell, English writer, a political god to conservatives, with their belief in the worth of the individual. Bronze, 78mm, #20 of an edition of 84(!). $165.
1985 Ronald Reagan, second inauguration, cast bronze, curved surface, 106 x 85 mm. FREE-STANDING and HUGE. A political god to FAKE CONSERVATIVES, who laud the individual and slam the government, but who always side with the government against the people, collectively and individually. This should probably be $225, but I just canÕt get myself to price Reagan higher than Orwell. $165
1985 Maimonides, medieval Spanish-Egyptian Philosopher and Jewish Theologian, for the Sephardic Educational Center in Jerusalem, cast silver, 149.4 gr., 75 x 79 mm. $395.
1985 Mark Twain, [Samuel Clemens], reverse of Tom Sawyer, FREE-STANDING cast bronze, 95 x 68 mm. Issued (30 years ago!) at $75; recent sales (eBay & StackÕs-Bowers) $125-$175. Bosco price: $125.
1986 One Earth, Society of Medalists, Issue 114: Children circling globe/earth viewed from Space. Struck bronze, 73 mm., $195.
1986 Statue of Liberty Centennial, silver, 166.9 gr., 60 mm. $249.
1987 Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution, cast bronze, 55 x 73 mm. ÒNumismaclubÓ website estimates the value of this issue at Òabout $200Ó. Our price is $99.
1987 Elie Wiesel, Holocaust Survivor and Nobel Laureate, cast sterling silver, 350.5 gr., 66 x 69 mm. Both the portrait and the words (ÒSPEAKING THE TRUTH TO THE POWERÓ) areÉ.powerful! $495.
1987 FIDEM International Medallic Exhibition, Colorado Springs, cast silver, 90.6 gr., 72x73 mm. $350.
1991 David Schwarz, Croatian Jewish aircraft developer, inventor of the first metal-bodied aircraft, cast bronze, 71x71 mm. $175. These were personally commissioned by Manfred Anson, a stalwart collector of Jewish medals. He sold me the last 6 or so examples he had left, and he told me – this is from memory – only 45 were produced. See the account of this medal in The Shekel.
We have a large stock of medals by contemporary medalists; Send me your want lists.