No, it isn't February (Lincoln's B-day) but the Lincoln silver medal is out and I have to say it's pretty awesome. I did not purchase this one from the mint but bought it on the aftermarket in an open auction. I bid at the last second to beat out others and got it for $23 less than what the US Mint is currently selling them for. Yes, more than bullion price but it's worth more than bullion to me for the art of it. Aside from a few odd black stains on obverse rim edge, its perfect. I thought the wreath on the back was a very nice design. All in all, Lincoln has been represented well by the US mint over the years. A few from my collection. Feel free to post more examples if you've got them.
Here is a 19th century stike of the medal which inspired the modern silver mint medal. Julian, who wrote the book on 19th century U.S. mint medals, thought this piece was unusually attractive. He had photo of it on the fly leaf of his book. This piece was issued starting in 1886. Like most all mint medals, this piece was issued for many years after that in various sizes. This one 75 mm in the 19th century mahogany finish. This medal is by Victor D. Brenner. He showed an example of it to Theordore Roosevelt. That led to the Lincoln Cent.
All of the other modern presidential medals in silver are taken from the same series of presidential medals. These medals used to be fairly inexpensive at a couple hundred dollars each in high grade. Now they have become much more pricey. The last time I bid on some of them in a Heritage auction, I got blown out of the water.
