Medals celebrate Singapore summit
Nuclear summit medal.
The administration of President Donald Trump is becoming an amazingly numismatic one.
It began slowly by ignoring the issuance of traditional inaugural medals that would have been sold to the public in bronze, silver and gold.
However, events have been making up for lost time since then.
There are two new numismatic issues to chronicle Trump milestones.
The June 12 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is being commemorated by the host country.
The Singapore Mint has created medals made of gold, silver, copper-nickel and quad metal.
They display flags of the two countries, handshakes and doves of peace.
The iconography chosen by the issuer reflects the realities and hopes of the world today.
The gold is half ounce and the silver is one troy ounce.
They are priced at $1,100 and $99, respectively.
The copper-nickel is slightly bigger than a Morgan silver dollar. Its price tag is $39.
What quad metal is is not explained, but its diameter is 30 mm as opposed to the 40.7 mm of the copper-nickel version.
Price is the same as silver, $99.
A double-thickness quad metal piece is $199.
World coin collectors call these piedforts.
All versions are being offered for sale by PandaAmerica.
All coins, even the gold, have colorized design elements. The effect overall is very appealing.
British reproduction 1791 Washington cent.
On the other side of the world, Birmingham City University in the United Kingdom says it has reproduced the 1791 Washington cent.
It is to be given to Trump “to commemorate Birmingham (UK) hosting the annual British-American Business Council (BABC) transatlantic conference.”
Trump will receive the first one of 400 made. The U.S. ambassador will get the second.
“With 3D computer-aided-design (CAD) imaging, the University’s School of Jewellery helped to reproduce the Large Eagle Washington Cent coin to hand out to event attendees,” according to the university.
The pieces are cast in pewter.
Maker is the A.E. Williams family, who are based in Digbeth and have been making the alloy since 1779, the university said.
Are these new issues indicative of a return to what numismatic items are supposed to be: objects that reflect the ongoing lives of people and nations rather than hokey collector-only issues issued simply to squeeze more money out of the numismatic market? I hope so. If that is the case, we can look forward to more.
This article was originally printed in Numismatic News. >> Subscribe today.
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