POTUS Appreciation Medals: Eisenhower & Kennedy
DrDarryl
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The President of the United States of America (POTUS) Appreciation Medals were struck at the US Mint in Philadelphia while the POTUS was in office. A medal was presented by the POTUS to an individual as a expression of his appreciation and the medal is a reminder keepsake of this appreciation. The POTUS Appreciation Medals could not be purchased from the US Mint, they had to be received from the POTUS. Most medals are kept as a Presidential heirloom and past on to the next generation in the family. This is the primary reason you hardly see these medals being offered for sale.
There are a total of 19 POTUS Appreciation Medals that were struck at the US Mint in the late 1950's and early 1960's. 17 are Eisenhower medals and 2 are Kennedy medals. The White House ordered these medals at the direction of the POTUS. The US Mint functioned as the manufacturer or contractor to design and strike the medals. The US Mint was paid by the White House for the services performed.
Below are samples of the US Silver dollar size POTUS appreciation medals (Eisenhower)
Below is a memo that indicates these medal are US Mint products.
Below us the Kennedy appreciation medal
Below are additional references:
Mysterious US Mint Medals Uncovered
President Eisenhower - South America June 1960
POTUS Website
These are historical medals. You can actually place the medal to a location (as the previous link shows) where the POTUS visited.
Let me know if you have a POTUS Appreciation medal....
There are a total of 19 POTUS Appreciation Medals that were struck at the US Mint in the late 1950's and early 1960's. 17 are Eisenhower medals and 2 are Kennedy medals. The White House ordered these medals at the direction of the POTUS. The US Mint functioned as the manufacturer or contractor to design and strike the medals. The US Mint was paid by the White House for the services performed.
Below are samples of the US Silver dollar size POTUS appreciation medals (Eisenhower)
Below is a memo that indicates these medal are US Mint products.
Below us the Kennedy appreciation medal
Below are additional references:
Mysterious US Mint Medals Uncovered
President Eisenhower - South America June 1960
POTUS Website
These are historical medals. You can actually place the medal to a location (as the previous link shows) where the POTUS visited.
Let me know if you have a POTUS Appreciation medal....
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Comments
I wonder if this counts?
and I wonder why Lyndon Johnson discontinued the practice
(if he did or the idea just "fell through the cracks" and was forgotten).
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Here are some mintages to get a feel for the ranges.
1,750 - South America
500 - DDE
400 - Hawaii - 105 destroyed, 28 in Eisenhower Presidential Library, 267 in private ownership
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Information about the Eisenhower appreciation medals have been under lock and key for over 5 decades. The medals would appear for sale during this time period, but collectors would steer away as there was no reference books to positively identify them. Mintage, manufacturer, designer of the medals could not be identified, hence it was assumed to be a commercially available souvenir while President Eisenhower was in office. The original recipients of the medal knew that it was a Presidential heirloom and would hold on to them and pass them on to younger family members. These family members also could not locate any information about the medals and either continued to pass it on in the family or sold it for its silver content.
Files relating to the medals were finally made available to the general public 2011. Two years passed before I came into the picture. In 2013, I was researching a medal identified in the book, Hawaiian Money Standard Catalog, 1991, by Medcalf & Russell. This medal was cataloged as 2M-94 and provided no mintage, manufacturer, and designer. However, the 1991 catalog price was $650. The main purpose of researching the medal is that I located a specimen and wanted to add it to my Hawaiian medal collection. Well, I took a chance and purchased the medal (price exceed the 1991 catalog value).
This is were the fun part begins. I did further research and found information that led me to the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library. I located this never released to the public file and the information I read was astounding. I kept reading and finally knew the whole story behind the medals. The information was source material for a book. I also figured out why the information as kept hidden. I was fortunate to have "discovered" this US Mint medal series. There are 17 medals in this US Mint medal series. They are in three sizes. The designs are by Gilroy Roberts and Frank Gasparro. All mintage are known. Remaining medals were destroyed at the end of President Eisenhower 2nd term. The number and medal type destroyed are known.
As for the 2M-94 medal (DDE-08 identified in the previous entry or the NGC certified medal). 400 were originally struck. 105 were destroyed. 28 are in a museum collection. 267 are in circulation. This is the 6th lowest population of the 10 silver dollar size medals.
I have been contacted my several grandchildren of the original recipients thanking me for identifying these medals. I'm not here to promote my book, but to share the information of these newly discovered historical medals.
Below is memo identifying 22 military members (last names redacted for privacy) who were recommended for the "Presidential Medallion for Hawaii" or "Hawaiian Presidential Medallion". These terms mean 2M-94 or DDE-08. As a side note: This medal is the first US Mint product to bear the name of the State of Hawaii (key term here is State as the US Mint did strike coins for the Kingdom of Hawaii).
<< <i>Interesting - gifts to diplomats?
I wonder if this counts?
lmao, that just might work lol
Your medal/coin failed the validity check as a true POTUS appreciation medal.
I've updated Wikipeda write-up on the Kennedy half dollar and added images.
Kennedy half dollar
Is there any logical reason for hiding the recipient names after 50 years?
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Coins in Movies
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I've been contacted by several living heirs who have been searching for information about these medals. Most are grateful that they now have documented proof that the medal in their possession truly is a Presidential heirloom. In most cases they have been searching for information for years with no results.
The point of the releasing the redacted memo to provide evidence that the medal was part of President Eisenhower's trip to Hawaii and not a medal designed/struck after the trip as a post-event commemorative. It took coordination between the White House, Treasury Department, and US Mint in Philadelphia to have the medals in-hand during the trip.
As a side note, here is a video of Eisenhower in Hawaii in 1960 (no sound)
Eisenhower in Hawaii 1960.
<< <i>The spreading of information about the President John F. Kennedy appreciation medal should hit critical mass one day and its demand will far exceed the 300 mintage.
I've updated Wikipeda write-up on the Kennedy half dollar and added images.
Kennedy half dollar >>
I think the day will come that demand for even the half dollars will hit critical mass
as well. There just aren't that many really nice specimens of most dates. People
have the concept that nice Gem sets can be slapped together pretty easily because
many dates are common in Gem but the reality is that even more are rather limited
in availability.
For some reason Kennedy is a very popular collectible but people are ignoring the
coins simply because most are cu/ ni clad.
Whitman has new book out on Kennedy tokens and medals and this is the 50th
anniversary of the coin. Next year will be the 50th for the clad (silver) and it will be
followed soon by the 50th for the cu/ ni clad.
All of this material should be an item of focus for a while.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_D._Eisenhower
Checkout the medal images of a few POTUS medals at the site below.
http://thehawaiiananumismatist.com/potus-appreciation-medals/
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Believe this was the display at Baltimore:
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Steve
How does the idea behind these for with the idea behind military challenge coins?
<< <i>Interesting - gifts to diplomats?
I wonder if this counts?
No political hate speech in the forums!
from
http://forums.collectors.com/messageview.cfm?catid=26&threadid=940887
Recipient last names no longer redacted.
<< <i>The spreading of information about the President John F. Kennedy appreciation medal should hit critical mass one day and its demand will far exceed the 300 mintage.
I've updated Wikipeda write-up on the Kennedy half dollar and added images.
Kennedy half dollar >>
Why would you ever say that?
I collect Kennedy Half Dollars but it's the "Half Dollar", not this general Kennedy Memorabilia which is where this stuff belongs.
The name is LEE!
Some Eisenhower DDE Appreciation Medals just sold that are worth keeping a track of. ATS is slabbing these now. Does PCGS?
Also noticed that the photos from Charmy's March 2015 Baltimore show report don't have the 1958 or 1959 medals sold above.
The discovery 1959 Eisenhower presentation set
The Kennedy POTUS sGm
The Hawaiian Ike
An entire US Mint series discovered and named (after 5 decades)
potus-sgm.com/
Regarding POTUS Appreciation Medals. DrDarryl said in one post to let him know if you have one. I came into possession of one in a roundabout way. It was in a batch of coins I bought in an online auction from Property Room, probably back in 2012. Property Room is a police auction website. They state: "By statute, law enforcement agencies must auction seized, found, and unclaimed personal property at public auction." I buy only from law enforcement sellers on the site, so odds are high this was stolen from its rightful owner.
I collect coins - not medals - but recognize the meaning of this item and hate to just sell it off or melt it down. DrDarryl - is there ANY way to locate the original owner so that it could be returned to them? I know this is the longest of long shots, but I need to try. It's a June 1960 DDE - date on one side, two torches on the other. Tarnished, but in decent condition. Thanks for any thoughts.
The first reference to POTUS was season one of the West Wing.
when you offer X to its rightful owner, you'll have people from all over claiming it.
proof might be hard to come by.
and there is the chance that others who owned it had it seized as part of anti-laundering activities instead of theft
For your identification pleasure. Size not to scale.
Books out of print. Working on an update for the longest time.
My blue book was donated to and resides in several applicable (DDE, JFK, and RMN) presidential libraries.