BRONZE BEAUTY: CAPE MAN REDISCOVERS CENTURIES-OLD ITALIAN MEDALLION

As an 8-year-old boy, Jim Coffey struck a fortune -- in the form of a bronze medallion designed in the 15th century by Italian artist Antonio di Puccio Pisano.

But he didn't know it. The medallion lay stashed away in Coffey's "junk box" for 32 years before he decided to learn more about the three-inch medallion.

He liked what he found.

"I've been told that, in mint condition, it could sell for up to $500,000 or even more," said Coffey.

The medallion is from the Italian Renaissance, dating back more than five centuries. It isn't in mint condition -- it's scarred, possibly by a spade -- and Coffey may have devalued it more by cleaning it.

But the heavy coin recently was authenticated by Dr. Stephen Scher as a contemporary cast medal, meaning it was coined during the artist's lifetime and probably during the 15th century.

"Finding such a medal was a one-in-a-billion thing, and how it got to Dexter, Mo., is even more of a mystery," said Scher, a New York resident who has a doctorate degree in artistry from Yale University and has written several books on medallions.

Imprinted with the likeness of Don Inigo d'Avalos, the grand chamberlain of Naples in 1442, the medallion is one of three known chamberlain of Naples coins, said Coffey. A chamberlain is an accountant for royalty.

Coffey, who attended Southeast Missouri State University, is an accountant with Fru-Con Co., a construction firm that does work for Procter & Gamble Co.

Only two others

There are many Pisano medals in museums throughout the world, but the only other two known chamberlain of Naples medallions are in the Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Pisano was born around 1385 in Pisa. He is considered the father of the medallion form of art, which was created in the 15th century, said Scher, who taught art for 10 years at Brown University.

Scher also has one of the most respected private collections of medallions.

The medallion includes a bust of Don Inigo facing right and wearing a fur-trimmed cloak. On the reserve side is a landscape scene -- a globe containing a field, with a sea, mountains and starry sky.

Beneath the globe are the words "PERVVISE FA," or "for you it is made." Around the edge are the words "OPVS-Pisani-Pictoris," meaning the work of Pisano the painter.

These types of medallions were sometimes given to Indians as peace tokens or as items for trade. Some of the medals have been found along Indian trails in Wisconsin and Michigan.

Scher, who personally examined the medallion, said it is rare to find such a contemporary piece. Some medallions were copied in the 16th and 17th century.

Forgotten treasure

The story of the medallion and how it landed in Coffey's hands seems impossible.

"When I was a youngster growing up near Dexter, we lived on a farm," Coffey said. "My father, using an old tractor tire, built a sandbox for me."

Coffey found the medallion in dirt that had been dug out so the tire could be placed.

"It was just an old medallion," he said. "It looked to me like a huge coin, and I threw it into an old junk box."

That was 32 years ago, but Coffey's junk box went with him when the family moved to Cape Girardeau.

Last fall, Coffey's 6-year-old son, Bobby, found the coin in the old box. He asked his father what it was.

"I hadn't thought about the old medallion for years," said Coffey. But with the urging of co-workers, he decided to learn more about it.

That's when Coffey became acquainted with Scher, who showed the medallion to curators of the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Gallery of Art in Washington.

"It was in great condition on the one side," he said. "But it had those marks on the other side, and condition is everything."

Scher refused to put a value on it but said it would be considerably less than a mint-condition medallion. Scher made an offer, but neither Scher nor Coffey would disclose the amount.

Coffey has since been in touch with Sotheby's Auction House in London, but recognizes the auction could be a big chance.

"The auction house couldn't put a big reserve on it," said Coffey. "It could sell at auction for far less than its value."

But he said he doesn't want to sell the medallion before he needs to. "It could put our children through college."