I posted an image of my first acquired President Kennedy Appreciation specimen on July 3, 2014 here at CT. https://www.cointalk.com/media/the-john-f-kennedy-appreciation-medal.1317/ Well, I did acquire four additional specimens since then. My collection of five President Kennedy special Government medals (procured by the White House Office for President Kennedy's use). These medals functioned as a presidential apprecitory award. 44 mm in diameter and in bronze. Only 300 were struck. Designer was Frank Gasparro. These medals are presidential numismatic artifacts. One had to be in good favor with President Kennedy to be awarded one. (You could not buy these medals from the U.S. Mint.) Medals are Class 5 of the President of the United States (POTUS) special Government medal (sGm) series.http://www.potus-sgm.com/ Top center specimen: This is the Mary Gallagher specimen (personal secretary to Mrs. Kennedy). As the current owner, I have two degrees of separation from President Kennedy (President Kennedy-to-Mary Gallagher-to-DrDarryl). Right middle specimen: This is the Robert L. White specimen. Robert L. White had one of the largest and most significant private collections of the President Kennedy effects. Right bottom specimen: This is the U.S. Army Msgt Jaynes specimen. He was NCOIC of the President's motorpool. Acquired from his granddaughter. As the current owner, I have three degrees of separation from President Kennedy (President Kennedy-to-Msgt Jaynes-to-Grandaughter-to-DrDarryl). Specimen is Mint in Bag. Left bottom specimen: Unknown provenance, but Mint in Bag. Left middle specimen: Unknown provenance. First to be acquired in this collection and from a Washington DC dealer. I recently started to get part of my POTUS sGm research collection graded/encapsulated by NGC. The gave me a complimentary "pedigree" label for this research collection. This is the results of the left middle medal. Just to share some demand information via price increase. The 2014 listing is for the NGC MS66 President Kennedy appreciation medal. Here is a example of a Class 2 President Eisenhower appreciation medal. I consider this a sleeper U.S. Mint medal series (as well as all other POTUS sGm Classes).
So how does the POTUS sGm series fit in the realm of U.S. Mint products? Well my research used a simple cluster analysis to create the Manufacturing Triad of the U.S. Mint. Note the POTUS sGm series on the bottom right. This is the formation of the initial Manufacturing Triad via 1962 Annual Report of the Director of the Mint. This is the final version of the Manufacturing Triad of the U.S. Mint. The main characteristic of the Special Medals for U.S. Government Agencies is the bypassing of federal legislation to obtain manufacturing authorization. How can this be so? The subtle fact that these medals are U.S. Government agency to U.S. Government agency procurement! One of the U.S. Government agencies is the U.S. Mint in this procurement transaction! These inter-Government procurement is not shared by the U.S. Mint in any of its public released information. This is were hard research is required. 100% of the production information has been located for the POTUS sGm series. This includes mintage, designers, production issues, production runs, cancelled designs, etc... From a numismatist perspective this is a research breakthrough. From a U.S. history perspective, this is undocumented history related to Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy.
No US Mint information about the Special Medal for Government Agencies? Well, here are their "Jock Strap" medals. AKA Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) special Government medals (sGm). Most medals are kept by the CIA after being awarded if they reveal sensitive information. Those that are issue are hidden in private (hence, the term jock strap medal). Tough cookie to break to get general and special numismatic information. However, visual inspection makes it palatable to include them as a Special Medal for Government Agencies. Firstly, it's a given that the CIA is a U.S. Government agency. Secondly, lo and behold is that Frank Gasparro's hallmarks! And Gilroy Roberts (not shown). I "discovered" the two types of reverse designs struck by the U.S. Mint. If you don't see these hallmarks, they are not Special Medal for Government Agencies. The CIA used a third party vendor to strike a version of the medals as time went on. Images are of the second highest CIA medal that can be awarded to an individual, the Distinguished Intelligence Medal. Mr. Gasparro likes to put his initials between the tail and right talon of the eagle. So, how many works of FG can you attribute to this placement? Let see. The Kennedy half-dollar. What about the NGC MS66 President Kennedy appreciation medal in this thread? Did you see it? Wait...The Kennedy half-dollar was struck after President Kennedy's death. U.S. Mint records indicate that the Kennedy inauguration medal was used by FG to come-up with the reverse of the Kennedy half-dollar. That is one small Presidential Seal to use for inspiration for the reverse of the Kennedy half-dollar! Did you see how large the Presidential Seal is on the 1962 struck NGC MS66 President Kennedy appreciation medal is? And that FG placement matches the Kennedy half-dollar. Did the U.S. Mint get their story straight that the Kennedy inauguration medal was the source of the Presidential Seal? Back to CIA sGms... See that ribbon on the inside lid it matches the medal type, the Distinguished Intelligence Medal.
And Featured it shall be. Interesting, indeed. I have a very odd Kennedy item I'll try to remember to post later. I doubt it's any official or quasi-official striking, but it's intriguing. More later, perhaps. I'd love to find out what it is.
This also sort of reminded me (in a roundabout way) of a presumed Gilroy Roberts piece that @paddyman98 posted a while back.
I've studied the President Eisenhower Class 2 design of the POTUS sGm series and noted this in my research findings... Frank Gasparro lit-up his dual torches in the consecutive years of 1960, 1961, and 1962. Frank Gasparro used his dual torch design on (get this)... 1. 1960 President Eisenhower Class 2 medals (left) 2. 1961 President Kennedy Inauguration Medal (middle) 3. 1962 Congressional Gold Medal - Douglas MacArthur (right) Shown are the full-size President Kennedy Inauguration Medal and Bronze version of Congressional Gold Medal - Douglas MacArthur. If you look closely, you can see FG on 2 of the 3 medals (right torch). FG's trifecta of dual torches on different U.S. Mint medal types in consecutive years ...
I’m not a medals guy, but those are very interesting. Thanks for showing them, along with your informative article!
Are you still collecting the President John F. Kennedy appreciation medals? I have one in my possession that was given to my late husband Jack G. Wood, who worked for the US Department of State in foreign service at the embassy in Dublin, Ireland during the presidents trip to Ireland in 1962. It is in the original presentation box.
The tide could have been turned if if only he would have acted upon it. Cluster, buster, unmentionable............a missed chance to quell an political acquaintance.