From what I have been able to gather, and this is a pet collecting area of mine as many know, the last contract for actual coins struck by the Franklin Mint was for the Cook Islands in 1997. It was a larger silver crown (50??Dollars) and smaller gold version of "Greats" of the Centuries. I kind of like the Constantine and Justinian coins but don't see a value of 125 USD for them. There are what appear to be 1994 and 1988 coins from the Cook Islands as well, and all of these years have the FM logo/mintmark on them. Some years ago I got the 1995 Papua New Guinea 100 Kina proof coin with a very nice Bird of Paradise reverse. I sort of count this as the last FM issue because the FM had struck coins of both collector and circulati9ng varieties since 1975 whereas the Cook Island coins were for a simple contract for collector issues & the pretense of striking coins for circulation to "legitimize" the collector silver and lesser metal coins stuck in proof. I will try to post some pictures later this evening if possible and welcome any contributions from readers as I always like to learn. By the way, the last contract for circulating coins, and not just specimen packaged uncirculated coins I believe were the Jamaica 1984 20c, 25c and 50c coins. The last large contract for circulating coins I believe was that for Liberia 1983 & 1984 1c, 5c and 10c. Somehow even though it was a large contract the coins are not found often in circulated condition. I think this may have something to do with the political instability there in Liberia (to put it mildly).
The Wiki article on the FM was a little strange. FM still has a website and is still in business. The Franklin Mint still exists and is currently owned by Retail Ecommerce Ventures (REV). While they no longer operate physical retail stores, the brand continues to sell coins, commemorative medals, jewelry, and collectibles online. You can browse their current inventory on the official Franklin Mint store. As for minting coins, IDK if they stopped, but their stuff was not for circulation anyway. Except: However, in the 1970s and 1980s, the company was contracted to manufacture legal tender coins for several foreign countries, such as Panama and Jamaica. While these were official currency, they were aimed at collectors rather than everyday circulation.
All I know about Franklin Mint is they didn't date some of their medals and they started using new mintmark, good question though! https://en.numista.com/forum/topic124872.html
I recall they used to have a retail store, and boy was it expensive. I only walked through once but never saw any coins as that was why I walked through.
Thanks for the responses. Yes, I am aware of the demise of the FM and the modern iteration of it. Really almost NOTHING to do with the original operation. Also, as I stated many are of the impression that the FM only struck collector coins when in fact they had contracts, some quite large, for circulation coins. The very largest were arguably those for Liberia in 1983 & 84 when the contracts called for 500,000 and more coins. Also some of the smaller denomination coins they struck for circulation in the Caribbean and other locales actually DID circulate (ie. Belize, Barbados, Bahamas, Trinidad & Tobago & Papua New Guinea). I guess what I am trying to find out and without success is if they struck ANY coins after 1984 for circulation and also if there were any of even collector type proofs after the latest Cook Islands 1997 coins that I could find. Here is one of the 1994 coins:
This is what my research turned up as examples of the last Franklin Mint struck coin (series) that I could find:
I have an Egyptian Labyrinth Cook Islands 2016. I believe when I looked it up the Franklin Mint struck it.
Yes, I think that is so & the newer iteration of coins being put out are taking no prisoners with all the gemstones, enamels, globe and cube and ?? shapes, etc. I have collected FM monogram and minted coins since about 1975/6 as I simply did not have the budget and always (through 1984) went for the cheaper but scarcer to rare specimen sets and "currency" coins putatively struck for circulation - many of the smaller bits were as I have pointed out. I would be interested to know if the 90's era FM minted coins were struck at the old facility or had that been disassembled and presumably [I thought] sold off? There were some very interesting transition pieces that would include the Cayman Islands proof coins struck by the Royal Mint but that had been struck with the FM monogram left on the dies! Speaking of which, I have a Most Wanted List of coins that I am pretty sure exist and have "missed by that much" as they used to say on the old "Get Smart" the;evosopm series.
