Commems Collection Medals: 1978 Ford Motor Company 75th Anniversary

I previously posted about a medal for Ford's 50th Anniversary. You can read it here:

- 1953 Ford Motor Company

In my recent posts about 1979 Thomas Edison medals, I mentioned The Village Mint and how it was a marketing company vs. an actual mint (each of the Edison medals I discussed were actually struck by Medallic Art Company (MACO) located in Danbury, Connecticut - it had moved from New York City in 1972). The same scenario played out for the Ford medals I am discussing here.

From a contemporary account: "Ford Motor Company has given The Village Mint permission to strike two bas-relief keepsake medallions in honor of Ford's 75th anniversary." The two medals were to be a large bronze piece (2-1/2 inches in diameter) and a smaller nickel-silver medal (1-1/2 inches in diameter). Such phrasing allows one to surmise that Ford Motor Company was approached by The Village Mint regarding licensing Ford logos, etc. and producing the medals vs. Ford seeking out competitive bids from mints for the project.

Note 1: Nickel-silver does not contain silver, it is a base metal alloy of copper, nickel and zinc (typically).)

The two medals share similar designs. The obverse design of the bronze medal depicts a 1903 Ford Model A (four-seat version - $900 in 1903) in front of Ford's Mack Avenue Plant in Detroit, Michigan; the Plant was a former wagon shop. Encircling above, at the rim, is the inscription "DIAMOND JUBILEE" below the car is "1903 * 1978".

Note 2: Ford's first Model A cars were produced in the Mack Avenue assembly facility. Ford occupied the building in 1903-04, but then moved into a larger facility to accommodate its growing business.

Note 3: The building depicted in the background on the medal's obverse is based on the somewhat idealized, recreated plant that Henry Ford had constructed at his Greenfield Village museum complex in 1945 vs. the original circa 1903 building. The original Ford plant building burned down in 1941, so it was not available as a reference in 1945 for the Greenfield Village recreation.

Original Ford Motor Company Facility on Mack Avenue in Detroit, Michigan
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(Image Credit: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. Public Domain.)

The medal's reverse design presents the Ford Oval on a globe, symbolizing Ford's position as a global company. The inscription "75th ANNIVERSARY" is below the logo, nine five-pointed stars encircle above it near the rim.

The obverse design on the smaller medal, omits the factory and presents just the Model A with the inscription "DIAMOND JUBILEE" above and "1903 MODEL A FORD" below. The smaller medal's reverse design presents the Ford Oval/Globe design within a frame with "75th ANNIVERSARY" enclosed in the frame below the Oval. Around the rim is the inscription "COMMEMORATIVE YEAR - 1978".

The design elements of the smaller nickel-silver medal are in lower relief vs. the larger bronze piece.

The issue price of the bronze medal was $16.95, for the nickel-silver piece it was $3.45. a postage and handling fee of $1.50 was added to each order. Readers of Ford Times received a free nickel-silver medal with each bronze medal they ordered. (Ford Times, December 1978.)

Orders for the medal(s) were to be placed with The Village Mint (Dearborn, Michigan).

1978 Ford Motor Company 75th Anniversary Medal - Bronze


1978 Ford Motor Company 75th Anniversary Medal - Nickel-Silver



For more of my stories about commemorative coins and medals, including other Medallic Art Company (MACO) medals, see: Commems Collection.