PCGS now slabs Heraldic Art So-Called Half Dollars!
Zoins
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I just ran across this PCGS slabbed Heraldic Art medal by Robert McNamara in a Gen 6.0 holder. He started the Heraldic Art series of medals after the Classic Commem Half Dollar series was cancelled by the US Government. The primary strikes were done in silver as with the half dollars and a few were struck in gold (48 gold for this Pony Express piece). NGC started slabbing these a while ago and this is the first I've seen slabbed by PCGS. PCGS and NGC label these as "SC50C" for So-Called Half Dollar.
Thanks to PCGS for slabbing these as well! I just wish this one had a TrueView.
There are 5 coin numbers in the PCGS Pop Report including gold, silver and bronze with a total of 9 slabbed:
https://www.pcgs.com/Pop/detail.aspx?pno=5&c=794&p=MS&t=1
Here's the auction and image. This is being offered at $10,000.00 OBO. I remember when these were selling for less than $1,000.00. Let's see what price this sells at.
Comments
Cool
POST NUBILA PHOEBUS / AFTER CLOUDS, SUN
Love for Music / Collector of Dreck
Here are some sales from HA. Some sold in the $700 to $1500 range from 2007 to 2011, but later auctions are much higher. I bet a few people are very happy to see this!
Alaska
Hawaii
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Beautiful medal and a great theme..... Cheers, RickO
I don't recall ever seeing a gold Heraldic Art medal. One learns new things on this forum every day!
Given there are only 8 medals struck in gold, it's a pretty small set so I can see a few people wanting complete collections. Here's the list. There's good info on heraldicartmedallions.com but unfortunately that site seems offline now. I'm guessing the Olde Northfield Historical Society (http://www.hson.info/) piece may be the hardest to come by. It makes sense that the Alaksa piece has sold for more than the others given the lower mintage.
I wonder how many of those medals have found their way to the melting pot over the years?
Given these are nearly 60 years old now, I bet a fair number of them have been melted which makes the collecting more interesting.
I have yet to come across a American Bicentennial but those may be held by HSON members.
I would think a fair amount as well, especially in the late 70s.
I own all the original (cancelled) dies for this series.
Call me when they decide to Slab Dan Carr's Medals and Over Strikes.
The name is LEE!
It's gotta be only a matter of time before they start slabbing @dcarr items. Hopefully sooner rather than later!
Very cool! It's amazing you have an entire set. How did you get them?
Do you know how many sets there are? I know there are others because I have a pair
It might help if ATS slabs them first. I noticed that PCGS comes after ATS becomes popular.
From what I understand, there were extra pairs for only a few issues. I wanted the whole set to make copper restrikes of the series (which I did.)
Paul
Congrats on doing the restrikes. They look great Paul!
I just ran across the info on contest recently. I'm sorry I missed it!
Here is a great thread on Heraldic Art medals with photos of many silver specimens.
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/heraldic-art-medals.205210/
On Dec 18, 2012, LostDutchman mentioned a number of the dies were owned by Don "D.A." Smith who purchased them from the Ron McNamara estate. I wonder how many dies Don owns (or owned)?
Interesting. I have a few of the silver Heraldic art pieces. They are all really well done!
Click on this link to see my ebay listings.
Regarding the extra die pairs, it would be interesting to know how many there were and to compare them. There are two cases for additional die pairs I can think of:
Striking many issues. Some of the silver strikes had mintages to 6,000 so it may have been necessary to have multiple dies. This is similar to Dan's multiple dies or the ones issued for the 1996 Olympics.
Separate dies for gold issues. One of the Hawaii die pairs was identified as specifically used for only striking gold specimens.
Here are photos of my one pair. I picked this one because I am an Eagle Scout and it brings back many memories of scouting. It would be great to get more
Dang.
I had several dozen of these "SCDs" and ended up selling them instead over the last 5 years.
Now I wish I had them back. Some were pretty cool designs.
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
My digital cameo album 1950-64 Cameos - take a look!
Very nice set of dies! I am not sure how many extras there are, but I am under the impression that it is not that many.
There is a copper Pony Express in the PCGS Pops...does anyone know if that's a restrike of mine or an original? (All of mine have 2017 Restrike on the edge.)
-Paul
That's very interesting. It would be great to find out. It would be nice if there was a TrueView or CoinFacts image to tell. Have you thought of sending any of yours to PCGS?
If anyone knows anything about the Pony Express Copper (if original. PCGS says Bronze as well)), please let me know (and yours too Paul). I'm trying to make a display of the different alloys to go along with mine.
PCGS and NGC will "slab" medals, but not counterfeits.
I've never seen these before, but they are definitely cool looking.
Thanks for showing them.
Donato
Donato's Complete US Type Set ---- Donato's Dansco 7070 Modified Type Set ---- Donato's Basic U.S. Coin Design Set
Successful transactions: Shrub68 (Jim), MWallace (Mike)
I have a small part set I think they are cool.
Hoard the keys.
Wonderful medals and display! Thanks for posting them!
They really are gorgeous medals.
Here's a few more of my favorite designs. These are my restrikes with the "2017 Restrike" edge lettering.
-Paul
FYI, I wrote a featured article on these medals this spring in TAMS including a history of Mr. McNamara based on interviews of his wife and son. The article also provides information on rarity and pricing.
Link?
Unless these are in the HK catalog, they are simply small medals. Many are very attractive.
The So-Called Dollar (SCD) term was created about 50 years before HK by a different person so to use that as the definition for SCDs seems a bit silly. Also, HK also doesn’t cover So-Called Half Dollars so it really can't be used here.
PCGS calls these So-Called Half Dollars and that’s good enough for me.
Using those criteria, every small medal is a "so-called half dollar" which makes no sense at all. Using a meaningless, undefined term only confuses people and promotes misunderstanding (and facilitates sales hyping).
Where do all of the Franklin Mint medals fit? How about the Society of Medallists, Presidential Art Medals, Esso Gas, Chuck-E-Cheese?
Adding a term associated only with a specific cataloged group of dollar-size medals, to a nebulous assemblage is absurd - and the instigator is doing a disservice to all.
WOW!
YOURS?
BHNC #203
Going from these to “every small medal” is a pretty big stretch. Do you see PCGS (or NGC or anyone) doing this?
I’m not the one classifying these but you can ask in the PCGS Q&A forum. I will say that these were intended to replace the Classic Commem Half Dollar series so there is that difference from the ones you list.
Who are you implying is the instigator here? PCGS?
A meaningless designation without definition creates confusion and misunderstanding. It does not matter who or what originated it. Hopefully, this kind of misdirection will vanish very soon.
As mentioned, these were intended as a replacement for the Classic Commem Half Dollars after that series was stopped. You may consider this meaningless but others may have a different opinion.
Both PCGS and NGC call these So-Called Half Dollars but perhaps they could be convinced otherwise. Give it a shot if you like.
Roger, I have had this debate with Zoins for what seems like a few years now, it is an exercise in futility. the downside is as you stated, confusion for collectors who aren't able to sort things out.
Going from these to “every small medal” is a pretty big stretch. Do you see PCGS (or NGC or anyone) doing this?
this is precisely what NGC will do and has done for well over 10-15 years. you can pretty much send anything to them with a vague description and they will encapsulate it. do we need PCGS to participate in that type of thing???
If your expectation is for the TPGs to change their classification, then a discussion here may be futile since I don't think they generally create their policies based on forum discussions. It may help more if you both discuss with the TPGs directly.
As for me, you're right in that I really don't see an issue right now, for SCDs or SCHDs. More below on this.
When I search for NGC So-Called Half Dollar on the bay, I only see 33 items for "ngc so-called half dollar" and 30 items for "ngc sc50c". That's a very limited number and, to me, doesn't rise to the "every small medal" issue mentioned by @RogerB. You mentioned something similar about every medal being called a So-Called Dollar, but I mentioned that I also don't really see this happening. I do, however, see the SCD term being applied to event medals and tokens which I think is okay.
As for general encapsulation, that's different then calling something a "SC50C" or "SC$", but I'm also ok with encapsulating items without the "SC50C" and "SC$" classification.
no one is trying to get the TPG's to do anything, that is what you wrongly inferred. perhaps the same reasoning should be applied to submitters who want these medals called SC$'s and other published terms.
speaking only for myself, I figure that the major TPG's wholesale slabbing of items with a nametag isn't good for collectors. it is probably good for the TPG's as a revenue source, good for flippers for the same reasons and good for collectors who need like to have their items encapsulated for various reasons. I don't think it is good for the majority of the Hobby for reasons which have been stated by me before.
you like to be able to place a random nametag on medals based on vague criteria at best and a specious definition at worst. NGC apparently agrees with you and PCGS has now decided they do, too. congratulations on your persistence.
I actually didn't infer that for you. I was asking for clarification which is the reason for the "if". Thanks for the clarification.
That being said, Roger did write "Hopefully, this [...] will vanish very soon" which I took to mean that he was interested in having the TPGs change their behavior.
I'm just happy they are slabbing more pieces.
Yes, for the time being. Most will be sold eventually.
warning.....old thread bump
Well, I guess I’m late to the party but I’ve been seeing more of these and was
surprised that NGC was slabbing them, then I saw PCGS does also.
Interesting........ Thanks @Zoins for posting this. And that collection of all the cancelled dies
that coinkid has is very neat.
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CoinsAreFun Toned Silver Eagle Proof Album
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Gallery Mint Museum, Ron Landis& Joe Rust, The beginnings of the Golden Dollar
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More CoinsAreFun Pictorials NGC
Thanks for bumping this Stef.
I wasn't able to find a TrueView before but there is one now. This one is MS65 pop 0/1/3.
https://www.pcgs.com/cert/83774413
I have some of the dies back in hand now, here are a few photos.
These are almost never toned so it was nice to add this one.
I wonder why so many are white after all these years? Non-sulfur envelopes and clean living?
Nice!