Featured Brazilian army - 10 years of service

Newest addition to my collection, the 10 years of service medal from the Brazilian army. I don't know how old it is, but is seems fairly old. Made of bronze.

 

You can be certain it was made in 1901 or later. One suggestion: when you post “fairly old” we don’t know what you are thinking there, maybe a bit more specific. On this forum, “fairly old” could mean 17th C.

 

I believe it is maybe 20 or 30 years...
The date on the back (December 15th 1901) is the date of the law that created the medal.

 

A nice addition, Leonardo.
It could be older, with those discoloured patches, probably left by old verdigris eating into the metal. Spring or @kristiaan will probably have a better idea of that than I have.

 

Since the actual age of the medal probably has no impact on value, not sure it is worth the effort to determine that for sure. If someone must know that, the three methods that come to mind are
1. Provenance
2. Determination of any identifiable variations among makers, and obtaining list of makers and when each was under government contract to supply these medals.
3. Forensic techniques to evaluate aging of cloth, metal, and lacquer coating of the metal.

Good luck.

 

1. I bought it at an online auction with no seller identification, so impossible.
2. That's a great idea, but as far as I could tell there are no makers marks on it, but I will look for variations

 

nice addition !!!