1975 Shot Heard Round The World Concord Ma Bicentennial

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HELLO all

I have been helping my boyfriend clean out his parents' stuff and he found a bag with some Bicentennial coin-related items. I still have to examine the contents of that bag, but I saw some of these 1975 medals and took one home to find out what it was.

I spent a while online looking for info, and all I could find was one fuzzy ad for them as sold from a P.O. box in Concord MA. The ad stated they were indeed minted by the Franklin Mint in sterling silver. Retail at the time was, at least in the ad I found, $17.50 before tax/postage.

I saw a few that have sold on Ebay, etc and they don't seem to be worth much, but they sure are pretty! I had some trouble getting decent photos, as the proof finish showed my phone's camera more than the coin finish! (was experimenting with new phone)

EDIT: well, I see that my new phone's camera is playing games with my graphics program... even though I rotated the files on my PC, they are displaying here non-rotated!

Edited by Nells250
12/11/2022 9:00 pm

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@nells, yes very nice. I think that typically we advise that Franklin mint products are going to be worth bullion melt rather than trading with any sort of numismatic premium. With that said, there might be a fingerprint visible in your second pic. That would be good to avoid if possible, but of course the damage may have been done years ago.

Nope, not a fingerprint ;-) And yeah, "Franklin Mint"... while looking for info on these, I did see an article about the "rise and fall of the Franklin Mint"!

Here you go!

PS While many coin collectors dismiss Franklin Mint medals as nothing more than bullion, IMO they are missing out on often outstanding engraving and high-quality technical execution. To the "right" collector, FM medals from popular sets can carry significant premiums - they can't all be lumped into a catch-all bag.

Edited by commems
12/11/2022 11:11 pm

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Grade them PCGS, value quadruple in 5 to 25 years.Best example. Unless there are multiple 69s(or 70s too) in the population, I would hold back on gradeing.

Edited by 279773
12/12/2022 09:12 am

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commems - HEY, there's another!

Question: when they say "sterling", does that mean not as pure as the coins we are used to today for silver content?

Very nice medal, and thanks to commems for the photo assist.

@ 279773 - why are you referring to potential TPG grading? Are you suggesting the OP attempt to submit this medal to PCGS? Your comment makes no sense to me.

Quote:
when they say "sterling", does that mean not as pure as the coins we are used to today for silver content?

Sterling silver is 0.925 fine, while pre-1965 US silver coinage was 0.900 fine. Of course modern US bullion such as the ASE are 0.999 fine.

for esthetics sake, fixed my cell phone pics... (real cameras are always best!)

Quote:
HEY, there's another!

@Nells250: Just to clarify....

My post was just me taking a pair of your images and rotating them. I don't own the medal.

Edited by commems
12/12/2022 09:59 am

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commems - oh for Pete's Snakes... chalk that one up to me not paying close enough attention!!!! I swear the older I get the worse it gets!

Edited by Nells250
12/13/2022 4:18 pm

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In an effort to improve this thread, which I have managed to make a "pig's breakfast" of, I have an update on these coins/medals.

I did a little more digging into the bag of coins the pictured one was found in. Not only are there a couple more of the silvers, but also some BRONZE ones. Not only that, but I think I may have found a GOLD or probably gold-plated copy, too.

There are also info/order forms in the bag for them, and it sounds like these were made specifically for Concord banks to help pay for the cost of their bicentennial celebrations. This makes sense as the person who collected all of these things worked at a local bank.

The order form mentions the silver and bronze versions, but I need to look again to see if there's paperwork in that bag for the goldy one.

Since I had such a hard time finding info on these online, I am sharing scans of the original info/order form for interested folks:

I Really Agree with the notion that Collectors are Missing out. I believe this Medal is Very Fine,

Detailed Artwork of Days Gone Bye , 1975 was a Cool Year for the 1775-1975, IMO. While the FM produced, what I believe was Just Another reason for Barry Goldwater to have his name across the "Authenticity " Document..... This is Gorgeous..... Best Wishes on Your In Laws ROI.......

This particular coin/medal is on its way to a new home. I thought since that bag of Bicentennial goodies has a few more in it, I'd pass this one on. Stupid me forgot to print out a copy of the info sheet for the buyer, though!

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