Quote from Pioneer on April 28, 2012, 12:56 pm

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The article by Bill Hyder and Jeff Shevlin in the Dec 2010 Numismatist article is a wonderful summary of L.H. Moise and the medals (and so called dollars). As mentioned in that article "the coastal city of Santa Cruz suffered from a serious fire in 1894" and in an effort to celebrate rebuilding in a "renaissance" style, the city held this week-long carnival around the San Lorenzo river. The following website (http://www.santacruzpl.org/history/articles/173/) has more interesting details. The medal for this celebration was apparently struck with the same Type-I dye as used in HK-245.

Bill's post (http://www.coinpeople.com/index.php?/topic/22338-california-state-seal-medals/) is also a cool narrative to review if you haven't seen it.