I wondered if someone can tell me more details about the JFK coin i own!? It is a gold coin (possibly 24K), 15mm diameter (possibly size of one dime), on a front there is a head profile of JFK turned to the left (that is definetly the same as on the silver half-dollar JFK coin), above the profile it's written John F. Kennedy, under the profile 1917-1963 (both positioned in half-circle around the profile),on the back side it is written on latin language EMPER-IDEM-PRETIOSUM-AURUM (I've tried to translate this and it means something like: Forever-The same-Value-{of}Gold {although that the word PRETIOSUM I didn't find in a dictionary-!?}) positioned in half-circle, in the center of the coin it is some kind of logo that is in form of a 5-star made of leaves centered with initials DP. There is no denomination on the coin. Does it sounds familiar to anyone? If someone is intrested to help me founding out more about this piece please contact me through private message! I will provide the photo of the coin to the person who decides to help me in my investigation. Thank you all in advance.
These type of coins mentioned are actually privately minted tokens. That is why no denomination is present. Most are only layered in gold. Their value is only as a collectible. http://www.amres.com/catalogs/PLKT.asp A few mints made them in precious metals also. If that is the case, the token would be worth its weight in whichever metal was used.
Thanks for your explanation Mr.ND! I'm not familiar with numismatics so I had to ask some questions regarding this "token". Well, I was told by one friend of mine who's in the medal-collection world. He also sad that it might be the token but since there are "DP" initials on it it might be possible that the Democratic Party was the initiator of minting this token. What I positively know is that this token got into possesion of my family sometime just after JFK was killed, maybe in the end of the same year or so. It's in the possesion for a three generations and it is golden since I've done the evaluation. It was attached to a gold ring and I thought that it's somekind of a seal ring until it got into my personal possesion and I checked the inner-side of it. Now I have few more questions: 1. Is it possible that the Democratic Party of JFK initiated the mint of this commemorative coin? If yes, where is possible to find their symbol or logo from that period of time (I believe that the symbol-graving on the back side might be their logo or so); 2. If it's known as privately minted token it's understandable why I couldn't find it anywhere in the catalogues, but there is a thaught why the portrait of JFK is exactly same as it is on the half-dollar coin? Is it bit hard to copy the image to such purity?(I'm asking this 'cause I'm not familiar with numismatics at all, as I've sad previously). Or is it possible that it is about the token mentioned in the previous question? 3. Is there any rule in what diameter token must be minted (the one I posses is 15mm)? When I searched for tokens on the Net I didn't find any of this size... 4. Would it help if I send you a image of this token I own for your review, if that's not much I'm asking or you can recommend someone? That's all I could think of it. I would appreciate if you could give me answers on these ones above. Thank you again for the help.
All of these types of tokens are minted privately. Most of the tokens will have the same image of Kennedy as this is the most well known. The initials are more than likely those of the engraver or artist. I would doubt that they have any association to the democratic party. There are no size limits to tokens. Most are based on the material used. Cheap base metals are usually 2 or 3 inches. The better the material, the smaller the token. It sounds as if yours may be gold. The small size would certainly lean towards that conclusion. As far as sending a photo, that really would not help that much. There are dozens of private mints that make these tokens. There is no way for me to readily identify which mint produced these tokens. If you take the token to a local coin shop, they can verify the metal content. The token would only be worth its melt value to most coin dealers. Sorry I could not be of more help.
