Has Anyone Heard Anything about a Trump Inauguration Medal?

BillJones

I buy inaugural medals now and then, mostly for presidents who made a mark in history, good or bad, who are not current enough to raise my blood pressure. According the experts the first official inaugural medals were issued for Benjamin Harrison in 1889. (I think that there are others that should be recognized before that, but that's my opinion.) The medal was small and attached to a ribbon, but it has to be THE RIGHT ribbon to official, and I don't have it. The rest of the 19th century medals were part of ribbon and disk combination.

Here is "half" of the Harrison piece.

The reverse.

Here is an official 1893 Grover Cleveland medal.

Reverse

In the beginning these medals were given to supporters, campaign and inaugural ceremony workers, and well wishers. Then the inaugural committe learned that they could raise some money by selling them. The first medal that looked like the modern versions without a ribbon was issued for William McKinley in 1901.

The usual practice was to make bronze medals for sale, and gold medals for the president, vice president and chairman of the Inagural Committee. There were also a few silver pieces handed out to dignitaries.

In 1905 there were two inaugural medals, one designed by Charles Barber and another by Augustus St. Gaudens. This may have been the start of the "lack of admiration society" that existed between Theodore Roosevelt and Charles Barber.

Here is the Barber of "Davidson medal." The mintage on this piece was 3,000.

And here is the St. Gaudens medal which has a mintage of 125 in bronze and 3 in gold. Adolph Weinman, who designed the Mercury Dime and Walking Liberty Half Dollar, executed the design for St. Gaudens. Given the low mintage and the St. Gaudens connection, I don't need to tell you that this piece is expesive.

Oh well enough history for now. If you want more, I'll post more.

So what is going on with the Trump medal? I have no even heard a rumor about one.

Walkerfan

Not sure about any official inaugural medal but I found this silver round. LMAO at his hair and his expression!

nk1nk

His heads so big they Probably can't find a press big enough.

Kidding aside I would like to see it.

Zoins

@Walkerfan said:
Not sure about any official inaugural medal but I found this silver round. LMAO at his hair and his expression!

The eagle looks pretty cool!

BillJones

It's hard to believe they won't issue one. They'll be leaving a lot of money on the table if they don't.

Believe or not there have medals for the candidates who lost that were designed in anticipation if they did win. There was one for Al Gore in 2001.

CaptHenway

The St. Petersburg Mint is still working on the design.

Zoins

@BillJones said:
It's hard to believe they won't issue one. They'll be leaving a lot of money on the table if they don't.

Believe or not there have medals for the candidates who lost that were designed in anticipation if they did win. There was one for Al Gore in 2001.

Very interesting. I wonder if they have one for Hillary?

One for Al Gore sold for $1400 on HA back in 2005.

SamByrd

@Walkerfan said:
Not sure about any official inaugural medal but I found this silver round. LMAO at his hair and his expression!

that's a good enough rendition for a presidential dollar.:)

BillJones

Very interesting. I wonder if they have one for Hillary?

I am sure that there was a design in the works.

Justacommeman

@CaptHenway said:
The St. Petersburg Mint is still working on the design.

Snicker

mark

coinkat

Have not heard anything.

The Carter inaugural medal by MECO featured a high relief portrait and it was not selected. The official medal was done by the Franklin Mint which was not even a close second. This selection was surprising at the time. I have not followed the value of the MECO examples... Doubt there is much interest though...

fcloud

I have some of these on my website...

Barndog

In 1905 there were two inaugural medals, one designed by Charles Barber and another by Augustus St. Gaudens. This may have been the start of the "lack of admiration society" that existed between Theodore Roosevelt and Charles Barber.

Roger Burdette does a wonderful job of explaining the "lack of admiration society" in "Renaissance of American Coinage 1905-1908" -- the rift started prior to 1905.

Goldbully

https://intagliomint.com/product/trumpgold/

CascadeChris

Haven't heard of an official one but Von Nothaus is doing and inauguration Liberty Dollar to complement his Trump Liberty Dollar released last April. If you want the counterstamped first day of issue you have to order by midnight on Jan 20th...

www.trumpdollar.us

astrorat

@Justacommeman said:

@CaptHenway said:
The St. Petersburg Mint is still working on the design.

Snicker

mark

It definitely will be golden ...

epcjimi1

Huh. The US Mint Presidential medal offerings stop @ William J. Clinton (Second Term) Bronze Medal 3 Inch as listed here by usmint_gov.

https://catalog.usmint.gov/medals/presidential/

Zoins

Here's the Intaglio Mint close up. The medal is designed by Mark Bogani, Managing Director and Founder of Intaglio.

It's also on the larger side being a Ultra High Relief 50mm 3 Troy Ounce Gold Medallion. One thing that is nice is that it focuses on the design and subject matter without mentioning the fineness or weight.

Walkerfan

Nice--that's a lot of GOLD!

291fifth

Will his inaugural medal make such medals great again?

coinkat

Gold that should have been put to a better use.

dpoole

This was a silver Bush/Gore two-sided inauguration medal put out by the Washington Mint in 2001. Talk about covering your bets!

Broadstruck

Might be awhile as I heard there wasn't any American engraver interested in designing one.

They could just take Obama's Medal & make a few minor changes just like Obamacare will become Trumpcare.

MsMorrisine

I heard it was going to be yuge

Cameonut

I'll buy one.

Time for a yuge change.

jedm

@BillJones said:
I buy inaugural medals now and then, mostly for presidents who made a mark in history, good or bad, who are not current enough to raise my blood pressure. According the experts the first official inaugural medals were issued for Benjamin Harrison in 1889. (I think that there are others that should be recognized before that, but that's my opinion.) The medal was small and attached to a ribbon, but it has to be THE RIGHT ribbon to official, and I don't have it. The rest of the 19th century medals were part of ribbon and disk combination.

Here is "half" of the Harrison piece.

The reverse.

Here is an official 1893 Grover Cleveland medal.

Reverse

In the beginning these medals were given to supporters, campaign and inaugural ceremony workers, and well wishers. Then the inaugural committe learned that they could raise some money by selling them. The first medal that looked like the modern versions without a ribbon was issued for William McKinley in 1901.

The usual practice was to make bronze medals for sale, and gold medals for the president, vice president and chairman of the Inagural Committee. There were also a few silver pieces handed out to dignitaries.

In 1905 there were two inaugural medals, one designed by Charles Barber and another by Augustus St. Gaudens. This may have been the start of the "lack of admiration society" that existed between Theodore Roosevelt and Charles Barber.

Here is the Barber of "Davidson medal." The mintage on this piece was 3,000.

And here is the St. Gaudens medal which has a mintage of 125 in bronze and 3 in gold. Adolph Weinman, who designed the Mercury Dime and Walking Liberty Half Dollar, executed the design for St. Gaudens. Given the low mintage and the St. Gaudens connection, I don't need to tell you that this piece is expesive.

Oh well enough history for now. If you want more, I'll post more.

So what is going on with the Trump medal? I have no even heard a rumor about one.

The eagle reverse on that St Gaudens is fantastic.

SeattleSlammer

@Cameonut said:
I'll buy one.

Time for a yuge change.

+1

Bochiman

People are, once again, getting way too political, imho.
Maybe presidential medals (not coins) shouldn't be discussed here if people can't stay out of the trash bin whenever they are talked about?

ricko

The PCGS Inaugural label ASE slab is a nice gesture.... not a medal, but at least it commemorates the occasion. Cheers, RickO

ms70

@Bochiman said:
People are, once again, getting way too political, imho.
Maybe presidential medals (not coins) shouldn't be discussed here if people can't stay out of the trash bin whenever they are talked about?

I don't see anything bad happening here.

Bochiman

@ms70 said:

@Bochiman said:
People are, once again, getting way too political, imho.
Maybe presidential medals (not coins) shouldn't be discussed here if people can't stay out of the trash bin whenever they are talked about?

I don't see anything bad happening here.

.....and I am sure the edited posts have "nothing" to do with that.....

Thread was going in a certain path......if I wanted unabashed attacks of a political nature, or multiple political innuendos, I would stick to facebook.

I like the forums here because I can escape from that and concentrate on coins....sorry if that makes me odd man out.

JBK

FWIW, I read elsewhere that there will be no official Trump Inaugural medal. Hopefully one of the leading medal companies will make one comparable to past issues.

I heard that initially they also were going to skip the official Inaugural license plates, but they seem to have changed their minds as they are now available on the official Inaugural Committee website. There is no description so I am not sure if they are like past years when you could chose your number/text and the plates could actually be used on your car through March of the year they were issued. I also see no sign of other mementos of the type normally sold (pins, etc.).

BillJones

It's interesting that the Trump people seem to be ready to do away with a long standing tradition that goes back at least to 1901. The medals almost disappeared in 1921 and '25, but have come back strong since then.

It seems odd that there was never a U.S. Mint Barack Obama presidential medal, but that tradition which went back to the early 1800s is gone too, at least for the moment. A medal could be issued at a later time.

The inaugural medal is another matter. That is a celebration of specific event, and once few months have passed the line will be broken.

MedalCollector

@BillJones said:
It seems odd that there was never a U.S. Mint Barack Obama presidential medal, but that tradition which went back to the early 1800s is gone too, at least for the moment. A medal could be issued at a later time.

There will be two medals, one for each term. Proposed designs here.

BillJones

I wonder why there was such a long delay? As far as I know all other presidents have these pieces issued while they were in office.

keets

Believe or not there have medals for the candidates who lost that were designed in anticipation if they did win. There was one for Al Gore in 2001.

Bill, you realize that Al Gore did win, right??

ricko

"Bill, you realize that Al Gore did win, right??"

Strange.... I have no recollection of his Presidency...must have been much like his other claims..... Cheers, RickO

ernie11

@GoldenEgg said:

@BillJones said:
It seems odd that there was never a U.S. Mint Barack Obama presidential medal, but that tradition which went back to the early 1800s is gone too, at least for the moment. A medal could be issued at a later time.

There will be two medals, one for each term. Proposed designs here.

Actually the first and second-term Obama mint medals are already for sale on the Mint's website, just added recently:

https://catalog.usmint.gov/medals/presidential/

BillJones

Bill, you realize that Al Gore did win, right??

Why poke a dead dog in the ribs? Even "The New York Times" admitted that their Florida recount numbers showed that Gore lost in the Sunshine State by numbers greater than the official recount, thereby losing the election.

Aegis3

No, the NYT showed that the winner in FL was dependent on how the counting was done. In some cases Gore won, in other cases the former governor of Texas did. Really, we should have admitted it was a tie and split FL's electoral votes down the middle (maybe give the FGoT the odd vote left just because he happened to have more counted votes in the first count.)

(Or, of course, just abolish that damned vestigal organ of the constitution that is the electoral college.)

keets

to the best of knowledge Florida STILL uses the punch tickets to vote, or at least they did in the 2012 election, which is unbelievable beyond belief.

can anyone verify that??

bolivarshagnasty

While you guys are discussing politics, I had to laugh out loud when I read this comparison of former Gov. Rick Perry's background and the current Secretary of Energy..............................
"For Mr. Moniz, the future of nuclear science has been a lifelong obsession; he spent his early years working at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. Mr. Perry studied animal husbandry and led cheers at Texas A&M University"
Mr. Perry apparently thought he would be leading the oil industry with this position, when in fact it is leading the nations nuclear program. LOL

BillJones

Yes, everyone knows that you don't learn anything after you graducate from college.

JBK

Not to stoke the fires, but as I recall there were several FL recounts by various media outlets after the 2000 election and all except one showed a Bush victory by varying margins. The only one that showed Gore winning used a highly controversial and suspect method where undervotes (no vote for president) were assigned by looking at other votes on the ballot. For example, if there was no vote for president but the voter punched holes for the Democrat running for dog catcher, city councilor, etc., then that ballot was counted for Gore. Apparently undervotes are not uncommon since some people do not vote for all offices. (I am sure the same happened countless thousands of times in the 2016 Presidential race). If anyone cared enough about the issue (and I do not) then they could look it up and get the full details of the recounts.

Back on topic, the Inaugural Committee, which is a private organization that springs to life every four years to help stage the Inauguration, has for the first time in my memory failed to offer (at least for now) an array of memorabilia. They list only a souvenir license plate on their website. However, the site used by Trump during his campaign (donaldjtrumnp.com) lists some “official” Inaugural souvenirs, including a medallion. It is smaller than a traditional Inaugural Medal and does not have any portraits, so I am not sure if it counts.

I also heard yesterday that a private minter has produced a medal that was supposedly approved by Trump and is being purchased by the GOP for distribution at Inaugural festivities. It does have a portrait of Trump and may be the closest we see to an official medal, although who knows if others will appear shortly as well with some sort of official sanction.

brg5658

@CaptHenway said:
The St. Petersburg Mint is still working on the design.

Thanks @CaptHenway -- I just spit my coffee all over.

northcoin

On one of last night's national news broadcasts they showed the Trump inauguration medal being minted with a view of the medal and a coin press located, if I recall correctly, in Detroit. In any event, the reporter said it was the same mint that made Obama's inauguration medal. The reporter also commented that it would be provided to certain persons attending the inaugural festivities - so at least at this point there is no suggestion it is being manufactured for public purchase.

Here is a quote from an article that identifies the Michigan mint where the Obama inauguration medal was made:

"As noted in my article that appeared in the winter 2009 issue of the MichMatist, the 2009 Official Presidential Inaugural medal was struck by the Medalcraft Mint and is being sold through the Presidential Inaugural Committee. At the time of the writing, it appeared that only the traditional sized 70mm medal would be produced. Since that time, the Presidential Inaugural Committee added two new options: a 70 mm antique .999 silver medal, offered at $400.00, and a three medal set consisting of the 70 mm antique bronze and 70 mm antique .999 silver medal along with a 14 kt gold medal in a fitted cherry case for $3000.00. (website: www.inauguralcollectibles.com)."

michigancoinclub.org/articles20.html

BillJones

If those prices are all that is going to be offered, the mintage is going to be limited.

I'd be surprised if they never offer the 70mm in bronze. That has been the piece that most collectors of inaugural pieces place in their collections.

Sonorandesertrat

For a gold version, there is a chemical method to produce what some term 'cheetos orange'. Might be a nice touch for the hair.

GritsMan

Thanks for posting the pictures of these cool medals. A great theme to collect! I heard that Trump is withholding permission for an inaugural medal until he gets a piece of the action--but you didn't hear it here!

DCW

@northcoin why does inaugural collectibles redirect to some union apparel website?

oldgoldlover

Hope so, especially when we have 4.0% growth in our economy. I doubt I could afford one unless it was made from Hillary metals now being melted as lead is no so expensive.