Filling the 1955-1981 gap in U.S. Commemorative coinage.

keets

When the special interest promoters finally killed the U.S. Mint Commemorative Coinage program after the 1954 Washington/Carver issues there was a lag of some 27 years between Commemorative issues which were actually money, coins that could be spent. During that time the U.S. Mint kept busy with medals which were similar in nature to the previous Commems but more like So-Called Dollars; in fact, several of the issues are included in the Hibler-Kappen book. I was fortunate enough recently to win a very large assortment of The Numismatist which included copies having articles by Howard Turner which catalogued the medals struck by the Mint during this timeframe.

The nature of most medals relates to Centennial type celebrations or Memorials to individuals and I wondered if anyone else collected these items??? The mintages are almost exclusively from Philadelphia and most/all bear the MM of whatever Mint did the striking. Even though some were struck in large numbers they can be tough to locate and even more difficult to locate in pritine condition. My interest in them was sparked by a collection I was involved in liquidating earlier this year, the SC$ Hoard that I posted about back in January. That started my education about the medals and it was a fun trip into the not so distant past.

Does anyone else collect these, either as a series or for reasons tied to what a medal(s) might be acknowledging?? I'll start with a picture of one and perhaps others will follow. Thanks for your indulgence and enjoy!!

Al H.

RWB

The use of national medals as replacements for commemorative half dollars (or other coins) begins at least with the 1930 threat of President Hoover to veto any commemorative coin bill Congress sent him. (Which is why the Washington quarter was released as a regular issue coin, not a special commemorative quarter.) Hoover objected to commemorative coins when used to raise money for private or local celebrations as a perversion of coinage subject to abuse.

President Roosevelt, being a dedicated stamp collector, understood that collectors liked the souvenir coins and again approved them. However by 1936 things had gotten so out of hand, and the smell of corrupt promoters/distributors so bad, that Secretary Morgenthau decided to eliminate commemorative coins. Silver state senators – Key Pittman was their leader – succeeded in getting a few more approved, but most either failed or were amended into national medals. (Morgenthau had a type set of commemorative halves in his office.)

Medals did not suit the quick money schemes of most promoters. While various commemorative medals were struck, overall collector interest – local or national – was limited.

keets

nice, informative post. unfortunately, many of the post-1936 Commems you speak of are still able to be marketed simply because the "promoters" were able to build false rarity into the issues by stringing things out for several years. also, your point of local or national interest being limited for the subject Mint Medals was/is true of many Classic Commemorative coins, a point highlighted by the number struck vs. the number melted for some issues and their ties to local banks and event commitees. the mintages on many of the Mint Medals classified by Turner have comparable or lower initial mintages and probably less survivors than their "real coin" cousins, yet they go ignored. i figure much of the reason is that they are unknown, even to collectors who live in an area a specific medal might relate to.

i like the fact that they can be bought cheaply.