Quick Facts

1961 John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Official Inaugural Medal

Designer:
Paul Manship (1885-1966)

Medalist:
Medallic Art Company

  * Dusterberg, Richard B.; The Official Inaugural Medals of the Presidents of the United States ; Cincinnati, Ohio; Medallion Press; 1971

** MacNeil, Neil; The President's Medal 1789 - 1977; New York, New York; Clarkson N. Potter, Inc. /Publisher in association with the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian; 1977

Commentary

John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Thirty-fifth President of the United States

Related Inaugural Items

John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Official Inaugural Medal

Official Medal Antique Silver (Average Weight 5.5 oz, .999 Fine) 70mm (2.75 inch) Mintage: 7,500

Official Medal Bronze & Silver in a Custom Capital Holder

Promotional Plaster Models 240mm (9.5 inch) Mintage: 20 Sets The national distributor of the official inaugural medal, Coin & Currency Institute of New York City, had 20 sets of obverse and reverse plasters made by Medallic Art Company for use as promotional display pieces.

Official Inaugural Medal Proccess Set Mintage: 40 Sets The national distributor of the official inaugural medal, Coin & Currency Institute of New York City, also had 40 proccess sets made by Medallic Art Company for use as promotional display pieces.

Pretenders

John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Thirty-fifth President of the United States

There are many individual medals and presidential medal series, which are quite well done and very collectable in their own right, that are often mistaken for or misattributed as "official" inaugural medals. This phenomenon can be seen readily in the descriptions of many of these medals when they appear in online auctions. The official medal, illustrated above, should match the auction item exactly before warranting a bid at official medal prices. Great, now we know the lot is misattributed but what is it? This section will illustrate some of these medals to help new collectors distinguish between the "official" and "unofficial" and to introduce all collectors to these interesting medals. Hopefully, some will be spared the expensive lessons I have seen so many unaware collectors make in online auctions and others will be inspired to expand their collecting interests to include these medals.

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United States Mint Presidential Series Stock Medal # 135 3 inch (76mm) "High-Relief" Bronze Designer (Obverse/Reverse): Gilroy Roberts / Frank Gasparro Other Sizes Struck: Stock Medal # 735 1-5/16 inch "coin-relief" bronze Interesting Notes: Pretender Identification Tip: This medal like many other pretenders quotes directly from the President's inaugural address. No official inaugural medal to date does this. Since the official medal is designed, struck and ready in time for the inauguration, it is complete before the speech is finalized and inclusion of quotes on an official medal would therefore be quite risky.

Select Another "United States Mint Presidential Series" Medal to view U.S. Mint Series - William McKinley, Memorial Reverse U.S. Mint Series - Theodore Roosevelt, First Term U.S. Mint Series - Theodore Roosevelt, Second Term U.S. Mint Series - William Howard Taft U.S. Mint Series - Woodrow Wilson, First Term U.S. Mint Series - Woodrow Wilson, Second Term U.S. Mint Series - Warren G. Harding, First Term U.S. Mint Series - Warren G. Harding, Memorial Reverse U.S. Mint Series - Calvin Coolidge, First Term U.S. Mint Series - Calvin Coolidge, Second Term U.S. Mint Series - Herbert Hoover U.S. Mint Series - Franklin D. Roosevelt, First Term U.S. Mint Series - Franklin D. Roosevelt, Second Term U.S. Mint Series - Franklin D. Roosevelt, Third Term U.S. Mint Series - Franklin D. Roosevelt, Fourth Term U.S. Mint Series - Franklin D. Roosevelt, Memorial Reverse 1U.S. Mint Series - Harry S. Truman, First Term 1U.S. Mint Series - Harry S. Truman, Second Term U.S. Mint Series - Dwight D. Eisenhower, First Term U.S. Mint Series - Dwight D. Eisenhower, Second Term U.S. Mint Series - John F. Kennedy U.S. Mint Series - Lyndon B. Johnson, First Term U.S. Mint Series - Lyndon B. Johnson, Second Term U.S. Mint Series - Richard M. Nixon, First Term U.S. Mint Series - Richard M. Nixon, Second Term U.S. Mint Series - Gerald R. Ford U.S. Mint Series - Jimmy Carter U.S. Mint Series - Ronald Reagan, First Term U.S. Mint Series - Ronald Reagan, Second Term U.S. Mint Series - George Bush U.S. Mint Series - William Jefferson Clinton, First Term U.S. Mint Series - William Jefferson Clinton, Second Term U.S. Mint Series - George W. Bush

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Presidential Art Medals "Presidents Series" Designer (Obverse / Reverse): Ralph J. Menconi Varieties Struck: 1-1/4 inch (32mm) "high-relief" Silver 1-1/4 inch (32mm) "high-relief" Bronze 3/4 inch (18.5mm) "high-relief" Silver 3/4 inch (18.5mm) "high-relief" Bronze In the early 1960s Presidential Art Medals, Inc. of Englewood, Ohio commissioned a series of very high relief art medals to honor the Presidents of the United States. They choose Ralph J. Menconi to design and sculpt the medals and Medallic Art Company to strike them. Menconi's exquisite work on this series earned him the nickname "sculptor of presidents." Interestingly the reverses of the 32mm medals accurately trace the evolution of the Presidential Seal. The smaller 18.5mm mini-medals use a common design with only the dates changing on their reverses.

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Issue Specific Bibliography

1961 John Fitzgerald Kennedy Inaugural

•  --------- ; The Inaugural Medal; The Numismatist, American Numismatic Association, Wichita, Kansas; Volume 74 Number 2, 1961, February, page 182; illus.
•  --------- ; Kennedy Inaugural Medal; The Numismatic Scrapbook Magazine; Hewitt Bros., Chicago, Illinios; Volume 27 Number 2, 1961, February, page 557; illus.
• Young, Raymond A.; The Kennedy Medal and Its Influence; The Numismatic Scrapbook Magazine, Hewitt Bros., Chicago, Illinios; Volume 33 Number 3, 1967, March, page 474; illus.