Some Interesting Facts About HK-336 and the Southwest Expeditions Medals

For reference, Hibler and Kappen list the following mint totals for this series, and this is published fairly widely already:

250 silver proof
250 gold-plated
4,200 gray-oxidized silver
6,250 bronze

Here are some additional interesting facts from old newspapers that I was able to find recently which are not widely published:

• 26 of each variation were supposed to be numbered and auctioned off. I don't know if that actually happened or not. If you have seen or heard of one, please chime in.

• The dies and planchets were supposed to be made in Philadelphia all along, but the medals were supposed to be struck in Denver at the new mint. That didn't happen, and it is well-known already that these were struck in Philadelphia.

• Zebulon Pike’s nephew submitted a design for this medal that was rejected.

• Congress authorized funds for 100,000 of these to be struck, a significantly larger amount than what Hibler and Kappen found in mint records.

• The idea to create these medals came via Rep. Franklin E. Brooks from Colorado. These were to be sold in order to raise funds for the centennial celebration that was planned for Colorado Springs in August 1906. The U.S Mint was fully repaid for the production of the medals.

I have published lots of references and more info here - https://www.coloradotopia.com/history/archives/medals/1906-zebulon-pike-southwest-expedition-medals/

I'd be curious to hear speculation on why these weren't actually struck in Denver as planned. I'm guessing that this was most likely a change in plans due to existing production schedules or quota needs at the Denver Mint? It is clear during the spring of 1906 that they were planned to be struck in Denver. It appears this was still the case as late as May when the bill passed the Senate. The first batch appears to have been struck in June in Philadelphia. Additional batches were struck later. The first order in June or just prior was for 1,000 medals. The first batch to arrive in Colorado in mid-June was 125 medals. This doesn't sound like a lot to me. They may have still been planning for 100,000 of these to be needed.