U.S. Mint Presidential Bronze Medals 1 5/16 inches
JMS1223
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I was looking at the U.S. Mint’s website a few months ago and noticed they were selling these Presidential bronze medals (3 inches and smaller 1 5/16 inches) of all the U.S. Presidents including a 2nd Term medal for those that served more than one term. I suspect FDR has four medals since he was elected four times. Anyway, the 1 5/16 inch medals were each priced at $20 each. Considering there is probably shipping costs and other fees it’s probably closer to $25-$30.
I remember 20-25 years ago having the John F. Kennedy medal. It was in cellophane and I used to think it was made in 1961 until later learning they continue to produce these to present day. I also remember getting it for just $3 at a coin show. So seeing these for $20 on the Mint’s website made me think I could probably get the other presidents’ medals I wanted for less. I took a look on eBay and some presidents (like Kennedy) are indeed consistently cheap ($5-$10 each) but others are $20 and some even more ($39 and $50!) even though you can get them all at the Mint’s website for $20 each.
Anyway, it made me curious why the prices seem well under $20 consistently for certain presidents while other presidents are consistently costing $20 and up. I am looking to buy a few specific medals but want to get them for $10 or under each and was wondering if I am being unrealistic in thinking ANY of them can be had for $10 or if some really are more difficult to get than others. The U.S. Mint seems to treat them all the same but eBay seems to think some are easier to get than others. Hmm
Comments
They were part of the huge price increase last year that took effect earlier this year.
They were $6.95 for that size back in December.
You can usually buy a full set, or nearly full set for between $25 and $45 on eBay. They come in large blue binders, generally. If you buy them individually, you’ll overspend.
In speaking strictly about the 1 5/16” bronze medals struck from the 1970s onward, FDR only got one medal, the 1945 In Memorium reverse.
A menagerie of U.S. Mint medals
Be patient and deals will come along on Ebay.
I remember when they were a dollar.
I don’t want a whole set. Just want two or three specific presidents I like.
I have a large bag of bronze medals PM me which ones you are looking for and I will check to see what I have.
It seems to me that issuing medals for each term that a president served is a recent development. I have a set of the smaller medals. There is only one FDR medal. Starting with Bill Clinton in 1996, the mint starting issuing a new design if the president was elected to a second term.
That has been my approach to collecting to recent presidential inauguration medals.
It actually started with Nixon. In regard to the 1 5/16 inch bronze medals, the Mint produced two medals for Nixon, Clinton, G W Bush, and Obama. Reagan and Ford only got one.
However, the Presidential medal series struck by the US Mint, not including Indian Peace medals, and which tends to be primarily struck in the 3 inches size, includes more than one medal for multiple different presidents. Depending on how you define the series you could include some earlier presidents, but these are the presidents that I would say were honored with more than one US Mint Presidential medal:
Garfield
Cleveland
McKinley
T. Roosevelt
Wilson
Harding
Coolidge
F D Roosevelt
Truman
Eisenhower
L B Johnson
Nixon
Clinton
G W Bush
Obama
The US Mint did not create miniature (1 5/16”) versions for of all of the medals within the series, as the miniature medal program began in the 1970s under the direction of Mint Director Mary Brooks. They did not produce the two versions of a single President retroactively. They chose either a 1st term or 2nd term medal and stuck with it. The goal of the miniature series was to provide an educational product that kids could afford.
A menagerie of U.S. Mint medals