I guess This Is My Next Area of Collecting.....Heraldic Art Medals

coinsarefun

Many probably saw it coming when I bought a few graded Heraldic Art Medals
And......I don't do sets, never did, don't really care for them
But as fate has it, this is how you move on to your next collecting endeavor.....by happenstance
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.I edited the title to include heraldic art medals so it comes up on searches
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1971 SC50C WESTERN RESERVE AG HERALDIC ART MEDAL PCGS MS68 **
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**1959 SILVER ST. LAWRENCE - THIN HERALDIC ART NGC MS 67
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1969 SILVER TRANSCONTINENTAL R.R. HERALDIC ART NGC MS 69
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1959 SC50C Alaska Statehood Centennial Heraldic Art Medal Silver PCGS MS67
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Then comes a few that raw ones that I liked the looks of........
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So then a few days ago I'm strolling through the pages of Facebook and see these.........well I HAD to do it.....right??
It was an auction for 18 Heraldic Art Medals. So I guess this is were I'm headed for my new endeavor
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First 2 are the Hawaii, I had the thin Hawaii and I hoped I would get lucky and this one might be a thick....well, it is
I’m hoping that @DrDarryl can help me out with value of thick/thin and different height of volcano .
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Not, like I don't have enough Alaska medals but that's what was in the auction.


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This was the 18th "heraldic Art Medal but I'm fairly certain it isn't.
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MedalCollector

The last one is a US Mint National Commemorative Medal. I believe the mintage was 10,000, struck by the Philly Mint. Worth roughly $15 - $20.

ricko

@coinsarefun .... Your collection is beautiful.... Some really stunning pieces there. Well done. Cheers, RickO

gumby1234

It doesn't feel like a new area of collecting. You have a lot of tokens and medals that I have seen in other threads. More like a different subset of the same area. They look cool thou.

pcgscacgold

@coinsarefun
You have an amazing collection. Thanks for sharing. Your posts have brought new ideas/directions to my collecting recently.

sellitstore

Who Knew? I didn't.

Very neat and interesting. Thanks for sharing and educating.

WAYNEAS

Really interesting designs.
Thanks for sharing.
Wayne

DCW

Good luck in your new niche of exonumia!

You always have a good eye for this stuff, and we look forward to your new purchases.

291fifth

I wonder how many of those have escaped the melting pot over the past fifty years. Finding all of them may prove to be a feat.

FrankH

@291fifth said:
I wonder how many of those have escaped the melting pot over the past fifty years. Finding all of them may prove to be a feat.

You mean THAT isn't all of them?

tokenpro

There are many thousands of remaining pieces including three 1500+++ pc holdings of which I am aware. It's a sixty piece set + a handful of related commemorative & special pieces. Similar to 1950's & 60's era baseball cards, the last group ("series") of 15 or so are more elusive. The mintages varied but were consistent with each other in the several phases of issuance. I've helped a couple of collectors put together sets in MS-68 (fairly easy) and MS-69 (more difficult but doable). Envelopes and brochures for each medal do add to the value similar to the value of SOM medals with original boxes & brochures. It's a mixed up series as to topic but is nicely executed which (along with the envelopes which added visual gravitas) helped many escape from the fate of becoming yet another silver round.

coinsarefun

@tokenpro said:
There are many thousands of remaining pieces including three 1500+++ pc holdings of which I am aware. It's a sixty piece set + a handful of related commemorative & special pieces. Similar to 1950's & 60's era baseball cards, the last group ("series") of 15 or so are more elusive. The mintages varied but were consistent with each other in the several phases of issuance. I've helped a couple of collectors put together sets in MS-68 (fairly easy) and MS-69 (more difficult but doable). Envelopes and brochures for each medal do add to the value similar to the value of SOM medals with original boxes & brochures. It's a mixed up series as to topic but is nicely executed which (along with the envelopes which added visual gravitas) helped many escape from the fate of becoming yet another silver round.

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Thanks for the input but OMG I’ll never have the patience for that. I think I’ll just continue collecting
haphazardly and put them in some sort of holder to keep them safe yet I can look at them.
What I would love to get are the gold pieces of this series but that’s unrealistic as the prices are crazy.
However, Heraldic Art did make a Warrensvile Heights coin club medal and I know who has that one but
also kinda high price.

coinsarefun

Thanks everyone for your kind words. Even tho I say I may do the set I know my interests and it won’t
be long when I I say……oh look…..pretty…. I want that

coinsarefun

@pcgscacgold said:
@coinsarefun
You have an amazing collection. Thanks for sharing. Your posts have brought new ideas/directions to my collecting recently.

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Thanks so much, that’s very nice of you to say.
It’s nice to know I have a small impact on some people and there collecting….remember CoinsAreFun

pcgscacgold

@coinsarefun said:

@pcgscacgold said:
@coinsarefun
You have an amazing collection. Thanks for sharing. Your posts have brought new ideas/directions to my collecting recently.

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Thanks so much, that’s very nice of you to say.
It’s nice to know I have a small impact on some people and there collecting….remember CoinsAreFun

I have to remind myself of that when I read some of the posts on this site. CoinsAreFun to me.

coinsarefun

@pcgscacgold said:

@coinsarefun said:

@pcgscacgold said:
@coinsarefun
You have an amazing collection. Thanks for sharing. Your posts have brought new ideas/directions to my collecting recently.

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Thanks so much, that’s very nice of you to say.
It’s nice to know I have a small impact on some people and there collecting….remember CoinsAreFun

I have to remind myself of that when I read some of the posts on this site. CoinsAreFun to me.

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A little side note to my handle here…..when I signed up in 2007 I was asking my hubby what should I call myself…….well, he had ideas but can’t repeat those…..lol
He said….you always have so much fun and your face lights up when you look at all the different designs. Thus CoinsAreFun

TurtleCat

Stef, your coin pictures have really gotten awesome! Way to go!

coinsarefun

@TurtleCat said:
Stef, your coin pictures have really gotten awesome! Way to go!

TYVM. I guess it does help having the right lighting and set up. Raw coins are the best and easiest to shoot

TurtleCat

@coinsarefun said:

@TurtleCat said:
Stef, your coin pictures have really gotten awesome! Way to go!

TYVM. I guess it does help having the right lighting and set up. Raw coins are the best and easiest to shoot

Very true but you have gone a great job selecting the right lighting, too. I think you have a real knack for it. I’m glad you’re enjoying it!

Zoins

This is a wonderful set and really has a great place is numismatic history. Robert T. "Bob" McNamara put together an amazing set. I think his designs are wonderful and it's amazing that he did the sculpting himself with no formal training.

Some good history on Bob McNamara has been put together by D.A. Smith and Gino Sanfilippo. Don A. Smith acquired an amazing collection of material in the goal of connecting with his father, as his father was a Heraldic Art.

Here's an article by Don A. Smith:

https://www.coinworld.com/news/precious-metals/collector-keeps-fathers-legacy-alive-with-heraldic-art-medals.html

Here's one of mine. Only 2 are slabbed by PCGS so the pops are not representative, but I had to get this because of the color.

(1965) Eli Whitney Bicentennial - Silver - MS66 POP 0/1/1 - Ex. Don A. Smith

Here's some info from Gio. What's really interesting is not just that he designed and sculpted the medals himself, he operated a press and it was sold to the Gallery Mint! So some of the Gallery Mint pieces we all own may have been struck by Heraldic Art pieces we own. It could be interesting to track down which.

https://archive.org/stream/CONA2016MarHeraldicArtMedals/CONA2016MarHeraldicArtMedals_djvu.txt

This is a short excerpt so click through for the entire article.

Gino Sanfilippo wrote:
With no formal training. Bob designed all the artwork and sculpted all but a few of the medallions himself (the only piece I'm sure he didn't sculpt is the Eisenhower "occasional piece," which is the work of Paul Vincze). He was meticulous in detail as well as in his research into the historical events depicted by his medallions. His idea was to create a continuation of commemorative half dollar size medallions similar to the United States commemorative coin series, which had ended in 1952. In 1961 the American Numismatic Association bestowed upon Bob the prestigious Edward T. Newall award. His most famous work to date is the 1971 W.R.N.C. counterstamp on 1956 Great Lakes Commemorative Half Dollars. This counterstamp, created for the fiftieth anniversary of the W.R.N.C., featured Moses Cleaveland. Only 25 pieces were struck.

Being a private mint. Bob also struck many tokens and medals for businesses and organizations. At one time there were three different presses being used. All of the "so called half dollars" were struck on a 1940s vintage converted hydraulic press which he purchased from Germany. It was a double arm, 150 ton swing screw press. This main press was recently sold to the Gallery Mint of Arkansas. It has been completely reconditioned and is again being used to strike more beautiful collectors' items.

All medallion planchets were supplied by Handy & Harmon and were half dollar diameter. They differed only in thickness. All pieces were struck in sterling silver and the first seven regular issues were also struck in 22 karat gold. Gold issues weighed 25.2 grams (389 grains). I have also owned an American Bicentennial medallion struck over a South African Krugerrand; the undertype could clearly be seen. I was told there were a total of three test pieces struck.

NumisOxide

Wow those are super cool!! Love the details of each one. Awesome pics as always!

coinsarefun

Thanks for posting yours @Zoins There are 2 main reasons I gravitated to these.
1) the obvious……designs for the most part are super nice.
2) McNamara is from my hometown!

I’m constantly looking for new material about him.

Goldminers

@GoldenEgg said:
The last one is a US Mint National Commemorative Medal. I believe the mintage was 10,000, struck by the Philly Mint. Worth roughly $15 - $20.

Unless it is dirty grey platinum...

And if anyone actually has a nice one in platinum available, please PM me with a price. I have been looking a very long time for one for my NCM set.

Goldminers

@coinsarefun said:

@TurtleCat said:
Stef, your coin pictures have really gotten awesome! Way to go!

TYVM. I guess it does help having the right lighting and set up. Raw coins are the best and easiest to shoot

Those are great medals in beautiful condition. I was starting to pick a few of these up now that PCGS is grading them and the good ones were disappearing fast. Now I know why

coinsarefun

@Goldminers said:

@coinsarefun said:

@TurtleCat said:
Stef, your coin pictures have really gotten awesome! Way to go!

TYVM. I guess it does help having the right lighting and set up. Raw coins are the best and easiest to shoot

Those are great medals in beautiful condition. I was starting to pick a few of these up now that PCGS is grading them and the good ones were disappearing fast. Now I know why

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eBay had a few different guys bring out all the very rare ones several months back and I just sat and
watched. It was a blood bath. I couldn’t win one. But just so happened to get 3 in this batch that were on the expensive side for not nearly as much.

coinsarefun

Since @Zoins has graciously given out more information on Heraldic Art Medals or So called half dollars
I thought to post this one below.he really was a brilliant man and exceptionally talented.
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ZoidMeister

Oh boy, another . . . . . . .

coinsarefun

Well since you opened the box @ZoidMeister here is some other great info I’ve found along the way.
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Zoins

@coinsarefun said:
Since @Zoins has graciously given out more information on Heraldic Art Medals or So called half dollars
I thought to post this one below.he really was a brilliant man and exceptionally talented.

Very interesting article Stef! I wonder if the sculptor(s) Robert relied on for his pieces is known?

coinsarefun

I have a whole bunch of reading material but it takes time to get it from him. He’s an older guy In Tennessee and makes me read what he send me followed by a short quiz….then more. OMG I’m tired of that but I guess he wants people to learn

coinsarefun

Picked up two more today

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Zoins

You Go Steff!

Another great collection in the making

Namvet69

@coinsarefun I can't think of a better way to enjoy my first cup of coffee. Excellent! Peace Roy

ZoidMeister

Very inspiring collection Stephanie. Thanks for the articles. Much to research.

Z

tokenpro

For a number of years in the 80's & 90's a dealer from the Cleveland area near McNamara's home set up at the Milwaukee & Chicago shows & always had at least one matched 60 piece set + miscellaneous single pieces at his table. They were priced right for the time -- sometimes the sets would sell but often didn't as they were basically available on demand. They were a fairly tough sale for a long time after their issue.

Meltdown

A few years back, I had a chance to purchase an old estate collection with a bunch of Heraldic Art Medals.
They sure were fun to go through. I kept a few of my favorite pieces but sold most of the rest.

erwindoc

@Meltdown said:
A few years back, I had a chance to purchase an old estate collection with a bunch of Heraldic Art Medals.
They sure were fun to go through. I kept a few of my favorite pieces but sold most of the rest.

That is one impressive collection of medals!!!!

ElKevvo

I really like the Heraldic Art medals,...I have a few and always are on the lookout for more! Great subjects and great execution for the most part.

CoinsAreFun...thanks for posting about these!

K

coinsarefun

@tokenpro said:
For a number of years in the 80's & 90's a dealer from the Cleveland area near McNamara's home set up at the Milwaukee & Chicago shows & always had at least one matched 60 piece set + miscellaneous single pieces at his table. They were priced right for the time -- sometimes the sets would sell but often didn't as they were basically available on demand. They were a fairly tough sale for a long time after their issue.

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Do you know if he still sells and is on eBay. I forget his name but lives in Tennessee.
He still sells on eBay and have bought a few of the graded ones from him. He mailed me copies of paperwork he had while researching McNamera. I’m fairly certain he said he lived in Cleveland years ago. When his father passed away an entire collection with coin clubs and man, many duplicates were left to him. He had no idea what they were until researching Heraldic Art Medals.

He still has a few super rare and error ones left, even a few Warensville heights coin club medals.
But, they are a little too pricey for me to get into. I enjoy these when I get get them at fair prices.
Many different designs which are very nice.

coinsarefun

My newest pick up

1970 Heraldic Art Medal So-Called Half Dollar Charleston, South Carolina
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And.....of course since I get into collecting things I have to make a wallpaper out of them.
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nwcoast

Those really are GORGEOUS!
Thanks for sharing this Stef. Super educational and interesting.
I had NO IDEA!
The art and quality of these is outstanding!

coinsarefun

@nwcoast said:
Those really are GORGEOUS!
Thanks for sharing this Stef. Super educational and interesting.
I had NO IDEA!
The art and quality of these is outstanding!

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Your welcome and glad you like them. I am totally taken over by these designs.
Btw, in the wallpaper I made bottom left, the picture is from his mint in Ohio.
The book and info is here
https://archive.org/details/CONA2016MarHeraldicArtMedals

Zoins

@coinsarefun said:

@nwcoast said:
Those really are GORGEOUS!
Thanks for sharing this Stef. Super educational and interesting.
I had NO IDEA!
The art and quality of these is outstanding!

Your welcome and glad you like them. I am totally taken over by these designs.
Btw, in the wallpaper I made bottom left, the picture is from his mint in Ohio.
The book and info is here
https://archive.org/details/CONA2016MarHeraldicArtMedals

Great presentation!

Anyone have one of his shillings, or just a photo of one?

coinsarefun

I wanted to add my latest one here to kee them all together

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Eerie Canal HERALDIC ART STERLING SILVER MEDAL So Called Half
.another outstanding pice of Medallic art!

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Santa Fe Trail HERALDIC ART SILVER MEDAL So Called Half Dollar
.such amazing imagery!

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1974 Saint Louis Gateway
I remember being 17 years old when my family moved from Cleveland
And took me up in the arch.. what an amazing feeling I had going up in the arch

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The First Continental Congress
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Kosciusczko HERALDIC ART STERLING SILVER MEDAL So Called Half

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coinsarefun

Ive added a few more but showing one one today.
1961 Heraldic Art .925 Silver Civil War Centennial Call to Ft Sumpter
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coinsarefun

1969 Dwight D Eisenhower Heraldic Art Medal

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pursuitofliberty

@coinsarefun said:
Thanks everyone for your kind words. Even tho I say I may do the set I know my interests and it won’t
be long when I I say……oh look…..pretty…. I want that

Spoken like a true squirrel!

There are some nice designs in there

coinsarefun

Thanks I appreciate that.....I try my bestest

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@pursuitofliberty said:

@coinsarefun said:
Thanks everyone for your kind words. Even tho I say I may do the set I know my interests and it won’t
be long when I I say……oh look…..pretty…. I want that

Spoken like a true squirrel!

There are some nice designs in there

Mr Lindy

You likely know this Stef, but maybe not, as I could be wrong, but THE BIG GREEN restored screw press used at Gallery Mint in 1996 came from Heraldic Art production floor. Was then restored and repainted green with gold accents by Joe Rust. If true, then in a kinda cool related way alot of Gallery Mint items we both covet/own are struck with ex H. Arts two man screw press. Most of my special orders were executed with their Big Green Screw Press, wherever it came from.

I was told it came from Heraldic Arts, but that was 25 years ago.

Lindy

coinsarefun

Yes. Lindy I was aware of that……..how cool is that! Along with my first purchase of the WRNC medal the seller that lives
in Tennessee insisted I read his copied paperwork all about McNamara and the entire story……..lol
He’s more into these then me
I’m glad you brought this up just in case others out there didn’t know. The minting/engraving biz.
Is a close family after all. And Ron is probably one of the last true hand engravers our hobby has.

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@LindyS said:
You likely know this Stef, but maybe not, as I could be wrong, but THE BIG GREEN restored screw press used at Gallery Mint in 1996 came from Heraldic Art production floor. Was then restored and repainted green with gold accents by Joe Rust. If true, then in a kinda cool related way alot of Gallery Mint items we both covet/own are struck with ex H. Arts two man screw press. Most of my special orders were executed with their Big Green Screw Press, wherever it came from.

I was told it came from Heraldic Arts, but that was 25 years ago.

Lindy

joeykoins

Wow, very charismatic collection. Good going girl!