The 1991 Yuri Gagarin Medal - what’s it really made of?

[CoinStruck]

On 12th April 1991 the Soviet Union issued a medal commemorating the 30th anniversary of the space flight of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space. In December 1991 the USSR disintegrated. 

 

Anyway the medal issue number was 160,000 according to Numista.

 

They came with a COA stating that the medal composition is metal from an actual Soviet spacecraft that had been into space. Numista states the composition as aluminum. It weighs 9.3 grams. 

 

Now here is where it gets interesting.

 

Earlier this year Smalls auctions in Sydney have one come up in their regular auction. In the comment section they said the following:-

 

“The composition of the medal is often advertised as Aluminum due to its light weight. But for those wanting to know the “secret” metal composition of Soviet spacecraft the medal is made up of 7.85% silver, 1.93% palladium, 2.69% rhodium, 6.55% ruthenium, 17.29% gold, 3.62% Iridium. 6.49% zinc, 23.02% copper and 20.56% iron.”.

 

I asked Smalls how they came up with the above and they came back saying “We tested the medal on our XRF Analyser to determine its composition.”

 

So that means these is 1.60797 grams of gold in the medal. 

 

So in theory they come up for sale on eBay for under the gold melt value. Question is how to liberate the gold. Needs melting I assume.

Edited July 18 by CoinStruck
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[MickB]

It's an interesting medal if it's made up of those precious metals. Only way to find out would be to buy one and get it tested the same way.

A nice piece to have for a collection as well.

[CollectForFun]

Well, that's very interesting - thanks for sharing! Just ordered one specimen which I'll try to get tested myself 

[HonestMoneyGoldSilver]

There are a few of these on eBay, some graded and some not. Here are few ungraded:

Two from the same seller in Ukraine without COAs:

Table medal, USSR Yuri Gagarin first man in space () | eBay (£55 inc ship)

Table medal, USSR Yuri Gagarin first man in space | eBay (£46 inc ship)

Gagarin First Man in Space Vostok 1961 Medal Token Rocket Commemorative 1991 | eBay (£18.50)

1991 Yuri Gagarin 1st Man In Space Commemorative Issue Aluminum Medal - With COA | eBay (£74 + 23 ship)

Do all of the above contain 1.6g of gold? 

[CollectForFun]

Having thought about this for one more time, for an alloy which arguably contains over 40% of gold and copper, the metal looks very white with no hints of yellow or red, so I'm rather sceptical, but nevertheless still curious what the result will be!

[Minted]

Those percentages don't add up to 100%, there's still 10% not accounted for?

Gold plating is often used in modern space exploration as it reflects radiation.  Though I'm not sure if that would still work when dissipated throughout an alloy?  I also agree with the above, it seems unlikely to contain so much copper and gold and still be such a silver colour, unless the medal itself is plated?  Also seems like a lot of metals to combine in the 60's, presumably all with some sort of property useful in space, rather than just chucking in whatever scrap they had lying around?

I'm also very interested to see what the results are of a second test. 

Edited July 21 by Minted

[MickB]

https://www.smallsauctions.com/auction-lot/soviet-union-1991-medal-to-commemorate-yuri-gagar_AB8484E93D/

Just had a look at all previous auctions of this Yuri Gagarin medal on Smalls website and they all quote the same regarding the metal composition. Interesting.

 

Edited July 25 by MickB