Making your fortune in modern medals...Lesson #1

291fifth

Welcome to the last frontier in numismatics, modern medals.

Lesson #1 is very simple. Gather information from whatever sources you can. Don't wait for a guidebook to be published.

At their time of issue many medals were either advertised in numismatic publications or had public relations releases printed.

Be on the lookout for printed info on the medals at coin shows or in dealers shops. The printed literature that came with many modern medals was often thrown out. The literature itself is very collectible and frequently very rare as well. I recently purchased a complete 8 medal set of silver Coin World Mint Medals from the 1960's. I already had a complete set in silver, so why did I buy this set? Two reasons: It had the custom lucite holder for the set and it also had all eight brochures that originally came with the medals. In twenty years of looking, this is the first complete set of these brochures I have ever encountered. How much did I pay for the set...about $12 over melt. The downside risk in modern medals is very low.

cladking

Modern medals tend to be priced based on theme and the number
of people which might collect it. Theme value runs from a dollar or two
for something like a college to a few dollars for space or world's fair.
Metal adds nothing except the value of the metal. Grade has no bear-
ing nor does originality. Sometime metallic value can actually negate
other value because it is much higher.

The highest priced medals will be something that appeals to a broader
audience like a medal issued at the world/s fair by Coke to commemmo-
rate Apollo 11 issued in bronze.

Anything in aluminum tends to be ridiculously cheap. Not all of these
were issued in large numbers so there can be great bargains here as
well as in silver or gold. Some of the "common" aluminum tokens have
had terrible attrition and degradation. The Cracker Jack presidential
tokens issued in '34 were made in huge numbers but many of the rarest
were redeemed for prizes and the others were tossed in the garbage or
suffered great harm at the hands of children. The Shell presidential series
(et al) is another example of this. A few of these may not exist at all any-
more. Shell once claimed all redeemed tokens were destroyed making
even the common instant winners difficult.

People would be astounded if they knew what the mintages were on these.
In the old days it was common for tokens to be issued in multiples of 1,000
because this was the way Osburn, Scoville and other manufacturers sold
them. Medals were usually made in many hundreds except the silver issues
would have a little lower mintage and there were very few gold ones made.
Those made for wide distribution could be made in staggering numbers like
the McCormach Reaper medal which had a mintage of 133,000 if memory
serves. Modern medals rarely have such mintages. There are a few like the
Sear's Statue of Liberty relic medal ('86) that had high mintages but most
have far fewer made. Company tokens are often made for events and mintages
are targeted to anticipated turnout. Silver is almost as little used as gold used
to be so these can be quite scarce. Even mardi gras doubloons are usually
issued in bronze, silver, and gold with mintage in one one or two digits yet
these can be purchased for metallic value. (or a couple dollars for bronze)

It's really this way across the board in modern medals; they are exceedingly
cheap with the exception of a handful of recognized rarities. Of course many
people are not aware even of the exceptions so they too, can be found for a
song.

mach19

Very infomative, That is why I like this forum. Keep up the good work!!!

cladking

I should also point out that there is no natural dividing line between classic and
modern tokens and medals yet. You can look at coins around the world and al-
mosr without exception there is a clear distinction between older coins and new-
er ones in the way they are treated by the issuer and collectors. This line is al-
ways where the precious metal was removed from current coin. In the US it was
1965. These distinctions are important primarily to highlight the fact that collect-
ors did not save the later issues and they circulated freely.

There isn't really a corresponding point in tokens and medals, however there
did seem to be a tendency for collectors to cease token and medal collecting at
the same time they gave up current coin. (at least in the US a little). There are
a few natural dividing lines but they tend to differ for each type of token and
medal. Transportation tokens, for instance, changed in the late '40's when the
automobile manufacturers colluded with oil and rubber to shut down the busses
and trains all over the country. Before this Osborne made large numbers of 16mm
tokens in white metal and bronze with cut outs for each individual intraurban line.
After this these faded out pretty quickly and new companies in niche markets were
more likely to use aluminum, wood, or larger base metal material (28mm WM).
Amusement tokens have a definite dividing line between the old and new but this
is largely because there was a 25 year gap between them.

Perhaps we're too close to some of these to see it. Medals lost a lot of popularity
in the '80's and they are fewer in issue and farther between if you're looking for
one now. Good fors have mostly faded away except for the occasional wood and
limited time issues. Telephone tokens are obsolete unless you consider cards to
be an extension of them. Mardi Gras doubloons are fading away as are amusement
tokens. Even medals are seen less and less with many of those who used to issue
them now giving out coffee mugs or key chains instead.

291fifth

I define the modern medal era as beginning in 1959. Here's why.

At the outbreak of WWII, metal shortages caused a serious decline in the production of commercial medals. The metal shortages continued after the war due to the boom in housing construction and, later, the Korean War.

Most medals prior to 1959 were single issues. In early 1959 a company in Cleveland started a series of medals called the Heraldic Art Medals. These medals were produced to a fairly high standard (though most of the designs are rather predictable) and can be said to have ushered in a new era in medals. Many companies issued medals in series over the next few decades, the best known of which is the Franklin Mint (which struck its last medal in early 2002.)

In 1963 the Hibbler & Kappen book on So-Called Dollars was published. The cut off for their book was about 1960.

While I don't have a copy, I seem to recall that the initial Heraldic Art Series medal, which honors Alaska Statehood, is included in the Hibbler & Kappen book.

cladking

<< <i>I define the modern medal era as beginning in 1959. Here's why.

At the outbreak of WWII, metal shortages caused a serious decline in the production of commercial medals. The metal shortages continued after the war due to the boom in housing construction and, later, the Korean War.

Most medals prior to 1959 were single issues. In early 1959 a company in Cleveland started a series of medals called the Heraldic Art Medals. These medals were produced to a fairly high standard (though most of the designs are rather predictable) and can be said to have ushered in a new era in medals. Many companies issued medals in series over the next few decades, the best known of which is the Franklin Mint (which struck its last medal in early 2002.)

In 1963 the Hibbler & Kappen book on So-Called Dollars was published. The cut off for their book was about 1960.

While I don't have a copy, I seem to recall that the initial Heraldic Art Series medal, which honors Alaska Statehood, is included in the Hibbler & Kappen book. >>



Good point.

There was also the Franklin Mint which issued tens of thousands of high quality medals
starting not long after this. There are a relatively small handful of mints that made the
lion's share of the later medals.

I'm not certain how great a distinction this is but will be thinking about it.