http://pic2009.inauguralcollectibles.com/optimizer/product/J0405.htmlhttp://pic2009.inauguralcollectibles.com/optimizer/product/J0401.html It is not some of the better ones.
At least it's not a sticker hot glued to a Washington Dollar! I'm usually not big on colored coins or medals, but this one looks very well done. The second (bronze) one seems a bit pricey, however.
I believe because of the $60.00 price tag not too many people will be buying them making it a potential investment. If the price were in the $30.00 range I believe they'd have to make a second production run flooding the market. How many do you think will sell? And yes, I do agree they could have improved upon the image. How could they let something like that get by?
eric - offical implies that the innaugural medals are issued by the US Mint. These are not. They are issued by a private company simply looking to make money by making people think these are official issues.
You are wrong. They ARE official. They were authorized by the official inaugural committee and they are medals. Thus.... Sure they were minted by private mints, but since the first one was made in 1901 for the McKinley second inaugural, the medals, which were originally given away for free to dignitaries, but since 1929 have been also sold to the public, have been considered to be what they are: The Official inaugural medals. The ones made by the US mint are not. They help pay for the activities connected with the Inauguration, like the parade and such. As was said before, they are OFFICIAL and AUTHORIZED by the inaugural committee, these are the ONLY official medals produced for the inauguration. the US mint ones aren't commemorative of anything, but an extension of the Peace Medals given away to Indian Chiefs in the 18th and 19th centuries.
I think for sixty bucks, they could've at least made them out of silver. They would still be making a hefty profit!!! An official bronze U.S. mint issue would definately be under ten bucks. I could be wrong, but I doubt this is a good investment.
Found this. Don't know if these guys are legit.... http://www.inauguralmedals.com/Inaugurals/Obama/2009.html
Yeah, the guy's legit. He's a private dealer, but the stuff on the site he says is official is in fact official. It's a really good website. you will notice that the mintiges are extremely low for the early ones. The second Wilson and those for Harding and Coolidge are almost nonexistent. We know the Coolidge one was real because when his grandson opened a trunk that belonged to the President, they found the gold one presented to him in 1925. Only the members of the inaugural committee got bronze medals that year, and there were no parades.
GD, it seems a little counterintuitive but the Official Inaugural Medals are not made by the US Mint but by private companies since at least the early 1900's
You think $60 for that bronze medal is bad, did you see the cost for the three coin set? $3,000 http://pic2009.inauguralcollectibles.com/optimizer/product/J0412.html
