Is there a definitive historical reference on medals and tokens minted by the US Mints?

ZoidMeister

Every now and again I run across something that purports to have been minted in Philadelphia or by the US Mint at some Exposition or another.

Sometimes the seller will list the engraver and one can determine if the "look" is consistent with their body of work. Other times it is a complete mystery.

I looked across the current US Mint website but came up fairly empty. This information might be there, I just cannot find it.

Anyone know of an information treasure trove that lists what may have been produced under the US Mint auspices?

Links would be greatly appreciated.

Z

Sonorandesertrat

This information is scattered in books and articles. Two places to start:
1. Robert W. Julian/Medals of the United States Mint: The First Century, 1792 - 1892
2. William Swoger/National Commemorative Medals of the United States of America since 1873

ZoidMeister

@Sonorandesertrat said:
This information is scattered in books and articles. Two places to start:
1. Robert W. Julian/Medals of the United States Mint: The First Century, 1792 - 1892
2. William Swoger/National Commemorative Medals of the United States of America since 1873

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Looks like that will be some expensive research.

Z
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PerryHall

Did the US Mint ever produce tokens?

ZoidMeister

@PerryHall said:
Did the US Mint ever produce tokens?

I guess it depends on how you define a "token."

This piece was supposedly made by the Mint, but doesn't fit the bill for a traditional medal.
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Not sure if it is listed in Julian's work or not.

Z

sellitstore

That's not a token.

Tokens are used in commerce and have denominations or other stated value, by definition.

Sonorandesertrat

@ZoidMeister said:

@PerryHall said:
Did the US Mint ever produce tokens?

I guess it depends on how you define a "token."

This piece was supposedly made by the Mint, but doesn't fit the bill for a traditional medal.

That looks like a medal for a Catholic religious organization. Listed in Julian as RF-9, 30 mm, unknown engraver, edition of 5,000. The mint collection has the dies.

ZoidMeister

@Sonorandesertrat said:

@ZoidMeister said:

@PerryHall said:
Did the US Mint ever produce tokens?

I guess it depends on how you define a "token."

This piece was supposedly made by the Mint, but doesn't fit the bill for a traditional medal.

That looks like a medal for a Catholic religious organization. Listed in Julian as RF-9, 30 mm, unknown engraver, edition of 5,000. The mint collection has the dies.

You Sir, are a demigod . . . .

Z

ZoidMeister

@Sonorandesertrat said:

@ZoidMeister said:

@PerryHall said:
Did the US Mint ever produce tokens?

I guess it depends on how you define a "token."

This piece was supposedly made by the Mint, but doesn't fit the bill for a traditional medal.

That looks like a medal for a Catholic religious organization. Listed in Julian as RF-9, 30 mm, unknown engraver, edition of 5,000. The mint collection has the dies.

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I thought at first that I massively overpaid for this medal, not knowing what I didn't know.

With the information that you so generously provided, knowing that it was minted by the US Mint and the mintage figures, I now know that I only significantly overpaid . . .

Z

ZoidMeister

Either way, I had to have it.

Z

tokenpro

The Knights Templar are not a religious organization as such but rather are one of the many fraternal orders under the umbrella of Freemasonry and have no direct connection to the medieval military order of the same name. The pictured piece is called a Visitation Medal among the fraternal organizations; this one commemorates the visit of the local Philadelphia Commanderies to the National Conclave held in San Francisco. National Conclaves were held every three years. You will find similar (non-Mint) visitation medals for KT and other organizations done on a local and state level as well

The Philadelphia Mint worked closely off & on with several Philadelphia die sinkers including Key, Lovell, Soley, and later Davisson trading engravers & dies and doing production for each other when needed (in the non-coinage field). It is a puzzle sometimes to figure out who struck what for whom.

The Julian catalog does not usually command near that price - keep looking. The Swoger catalog was marketed in a very strange manner and relatively few copies were sold (from my understanding). It does not surface often. The Dean catalog is used more often for the National Commemorative Medals first cataloged by Turner in the Numismatist but has not kept up with the numerous later issues.