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MEDALS
of the
United States
Mint

Department of the Treasury

The Honorable Mary Brooks, Director of the Mint

Revised 1972

By Captain Kenneth M. Failor, USNR, Consultant to the Director of the Mint
and Eleonora Hayden, Bureau of the Mint

СЈ
5805
F17
1972

Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 74-602460

First Printing August 1969

Revised 1972

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
Washington, DC 20402 - Price 35 25

Stock Number 4804 0497

FOREWORD

... in this age of technicians and scientific marvels, ... the individual still counts; ... in a crisis, the character of a man or of men will make the difference.

RICHARD M. NIXON, Presentation of Presidential Medal of Freedom to the Apollo 13 Astronauts, Honolulu, April 18, 1970.

This Catalogue of Medals of the United States Mint was issued in the summer of 1969 as a memorial to the Nation's great who have left their imprint on the course of American history, and to better acquaint the public with the Mint's lesser known medallic activities. This 1972 edition reflects additions which have been made since the last printing.

The use of national medals by the United States Government began as early as the Revolutionary War, when medals were authorized to be made and presented to outstanding military heroes. These medals were made at the French Mint, principally under the direction of Thomas Jefferson, then the first United States Ambassador to the Court of France.

A little over a century ago, the Mint began to gather together from various sources, the dies which were used to strike the medals which had been authorized by the United States Congress. Bronze copies of these medals were made available to the public, starting in the 1860's.

The series honoring Treasury Secretaries was started in 1881; the Mint Director medals were commenced in the mid-Nineteenth Century. Neither category is complete and it is planned that additional medals will be produced as time permits.

All of the medals listed in this catalogue are offered for purchase by the public. Order forms appear in the appendix; additional copies of this form, as well as a current illustrated brochure are available upon request from the Superintendent, U.S. Mint, Philadelphia, Pa. 19106. Dimensions of the medals are not shown in this catalogue since the illustrations depict the approximate sizes.

October, 1972.

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