Sterling Collection of Swiss Shooting Medals

Set Description
Shooting festivals have a long and storied history in Switzerland. From their origins in the late Middle Ages to the modern competitions of today, they have been marked by a unique and beautiful series of commemorative coins an medals. Since the early 19th century, annual competitions have been held at the local, cantonal, and federal levels. Some of the medals and coins which comprise this series were intended to be awarded a prizes, others were sold to the public to raise funds or just given away to commemorate the event. Many of the early medals are hand engraved and thus, unique. Most were machine produced, but on a very limited scale - often only a few hundred examples each. Silver and bronze are the most common metals used to strike these medals, although many were also struck in gold and white metal as well. In his exhaustive work on the subject, Jung Richter lists nearly 2,000 separate designs, plus varieties struck in various metals. While they are one of the more popular and collectible series of world medals, they are surprisingly affordable. Superbly beautiful designs, often in very high relief, and having very small mintages, are available for only a few hundred dollars or less. Because of their numerous designs and general scarcity, collecting Swiss Shooting Medals is both richly rewarding and supremely challenging.

Set Goals
The goal is to acquire as many different designs as possible, mostly in silver whenever possible.