1927 AL Champs Yankees Medal

[rholmes]

Wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this medal, or has seen another example? This is another item that came in a large lot, and I know next to nothing about Yankees collectibles from this era or medals in general.

The maker mark is BRADSHAW, NEWARK, NJ. A quick look around the internet brings up a few other items from this era by this maker (trophies, medals, etc), and they seem to have began business in Newark around 1920.

The actual medal feels legit to me as an antique item from 1927. Probably cleaned a bit sometime in its more recent history. I also found another medal with the Bradshaw mark from 1931 and the engraving, fairly distinct in style, is very similar. See side by side comparison.

So, assuming it's the real deal, why was it made? Given to team, or was it a sales sample to drum up business (from the Yankees or generally)?

I'd love to have any Yankees or medal/etc collectors weigh in.

[vintagesportscollector]

Ray, the medal is certainly legit for the period. It's a generic image, and the blank medal was produced as an award, and anything could be engraved in the space to the left of the batter or on back. I've seen the image with different engravings. There may be no way to know for sure why this was engraved 'AL 1927 Champs". Perhaps there are others that were intended for and given out celebrating the Yankees. That it doesn't say Yankees leads me to think it wasn't official for the Yankees, or its original intention was for another team and final engraving never completed.

[rholmes]

Thanks, Joe. Good insight.

Searching around this afternoon I found another example of the same medal...same maker, same engraving style. Don't really know what it means.

[sports-rings]

wow, what a great piece.

I suspect that this item was not ordered by the team. The Yankees had already established a relationship with Dieges & Clust in 1927 and later with Balfour when Dieges & Clust was broken apart and resold.

Dieges & Clust, and later Balfour, made all the World Series rings for the Yankees, and also the AL Championship rings when the Yankees appeared in the World Series and lost. These two companies also made various trophies and other awards, for the Yankees.

Also, I notice the word "Yankees" does not appear on the item. Perhaps these medals were sold to fans (was there even a market for such things back then?) or perhaps there was another league called the "American League"?

[rholmes]

Thanks for commenting! I think it unlikely as well that this was ordered by the team. I do tend to think it was made with the Yankees in mind- the proximity of Newark to NY just makes me believe in the connection- but as for the purpose of its making, who knows? At the least it's an interesting and pretty cool oddball Yankees item.

I actually threw this up on ebay this morning with a fairly low start and saying what I know and don't know about the medal. Let the people decide (apologies for the ad- I realize this is not the BST but thought I should mention it).