It seems that Trump does not have officicial inaugural medal. In the past the medals have been used as fund raisers for the inaugural events, but it seems like Trump had so many contributors that they didn't need to do it. Newly installed presidents also used the medals as thank yous for those who had contributed or worked on their election campaigns. Here is one of the two unofficial medals that were issued for Trump in 2017. These were issued by the Ohio Republicans. There have been a lot of comments about how Trump was one of the great political comeback stories in history. Before Trump, the biggest political surprise was the election of Harry Truman in 1948. Interestingly the artist who designed the 1949 Truman medal, C. Paul Jennewein, included a tribute to the common man voters who supported Truman in the lower left side of the design on the reverse. If you have any presidential inaugural medals, feel free to post them. If there are any you would like to see, I have many of them, but not all.
Friendly moderator notice to those replying to this thread: please confine your commentary to the medals themselves (and their related history), and don't let this thread slide into irrelevant political commentary about current events and such. Thank you. Sorry- just figured that needed to be said up front. Resume discussion.
Those are nice medals. I remember the weather for 2017's being a lot better. That was a magical winter; almost every day was 50-60 degrees.
No to Trump but I have a really old Barber, McKinley table medal! The only Trump I have is the 2020 Silver Shield where he's flipping the bird and he's riding a missile rocket, a pic may get me in trouble so I'll keep it to myself!
I don't have any inauguration medals, I do have this Silver Jubilee medal of Dwight D Eisenhower's Inauguration.
These aren't designated as inaugural, as @johnmilton stated, there are only unofficial medals. Hopefully these fall into the category of 'any you would like to see'.
@fretboard, here are the 1897 and 1901 McKinley inaugural medals. In 1897, and for the two previous inaugurals, the official medal was mounted on a ribbon. The 1901 inagural medal was the first that was not mounted on a ribbon. This piece is fairly common. Here is the same medal in silver. This piece has a mintage of only 55 pieces. These pieces were given to those who put in a major effort toward the inauguration. Many of the these pieces are messed up because they went to noncollectors who did not store them properly. The condition on this one prompted me to buy it.
Your silver 25th anniversary piece is interesting. The 1953 inaugural medal in silver marked the first time that the silver medals were offered to the public. Prior to then the mintages were very small, often less than 10, and were only given to dignitaries. By 1952, the Republicans had not won a presidential election since 1928. As you might imagine, they were in a celebratory mood which prompted them to buy a few thousand of these silver medals.
This 1905 Theodore Roosevelt piece is regarded as either the #1 or #2 most desirable inauguration medal. The 1921 Harding medal is much rarer, but Harding is not a highly regarded president, which makes his medal less popular. Augustus St. Gaudens designed this piece, and Adolph Weinman, who designed the Mercury Dime and the Walking Liberty Half Dollar, executed the dies. These pieces were cast, not struck, by Tiffany & Co. The mintage in copper was 125 plus 3 pieces in gold which went to the president, vice president and head of the inaugural committee. Note similarity between the eagle on this piece and the one that appears on the Indian $10 gold. There was a second Theodore Roosevelt inaugural medal, which was made in much larger quantities. The was the only year in which there were two official inaugural medals.
Here's an example of how popular the inaugural medals could be. When Franklin Roosevelt was elected to a third term in 1940, the inaugural committee sould this medal. The initial mintage was 1,000 pieces. When those sold out, the committee made some more. They added to "2" at the top of the wreath to distinguish it as the second issue. The mintage for the second variety was 2,000 pieces. Why did the committee underestimate the demand? In 1937, this medal did not sell out, and they had pieces left over.
It's Silver Nickel. I have the presentation box and insert to go with it. The High relief is what caught my eye. Nearly 3/8ths of an inch.
I might have to go back for the Carter. I grabbed this Ike-Nixon today. Really couldn't believe they had any inauguration medals, I went in there looking for ancients.
@Rushmore, the pieces you have are the smaller versions of the presidential medals. They are different from the inaugural medals which are issued specifically for the inaugural event. The presidential medals were all struck by the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia. They were offered on a continuing basis, years after the presidential inauguration. Today, the mint has stopped producing many of these pieces. The inaugural medals were usually made by private firms. They were only offered in connection with the inaugural event. I know that this is confusing for many collectors.
Perhaps people have heard by now, but there is in fact an official 2025 inaugural medal, but it hasn't been offered yet. The design is very reminiscent of the 1957 Eisenhower medal. Coin World had an article about it a couple weeks ago.
