What Really Happened To The Franklin Mint?

I agree with you that the quality of its product was not the reason for the demise of The Franklin Mint (FM) in terms of its numismatic offerings. I have a few FM US Bicentennial related medal sets and a couple of non-US proof sets in my collection and believe them all to be very attractive and of the highest quality.

While there is no one reason that The Franklin Mint (FM) fell out of favor with collectors, one significant reason was simply the number of issues that it produced and attempted to market to collectors. The FM was launched at a time in which no US commemorative coins were being authorized by Congress / struck by the US Mint. This left a void for many collectors and a number of companies stepped in and tried to fill the void with commemorative medals. Of course, some were more successful than others.

The Franklin Mint fairly quickly rose to prominence among the private issuers, due in no small part to the fact that it employed former US Mint Chief Engraver Gilroy Roberts as its Chairman and top engraver. The quality and beauty of the engravings of the FM's initial releases set it apart from most all of its competition.

In the beginning, the various issues of the FM were absorbed into the market with good success. Eventually, however, it began to produce so many different series of medals (in various metals) that collectors became overwhelmed by the volume and "collecting fatigue" set in for many. Parallel to this was the declining interest in medals among collectors which slowed sales of new medals and created a "soft" secondary market for previous issues.

Without a viable secondary market, many collectors could not sell their medals for anything near what they paid for them (the initial selling prices of FM medals was not cheap!) and so medals soon developed a reputation as being "junk" among many collectors. To the present day, medals continue to suffer as a second-tier numismatic collectible for most collectors. As a result, many attractive modern medals, even with fairly limited mintages, often sell for little more than melt value on the secondary market.

It also didn't help that the modern series of US commemorative coins was launched in 1982. This filled the commemorative void for many collectors which further reduced the interest in medals.

Hope that at least partially answers your questions.


EDIT: I should mention that FM collectors looking to sell their silver medals did have an opportunity to sell at a profit in Q4 1979 through January 1980 thanks to the rapid run up in silver prices caused by the activities of the Hunt brothers. I've heard many a dealer tell stories of the large number of FM silver sets that they purchased and melted during this time period. The rise in silver prices a couple of years ago also brought out a number of sets that were turned in for melting rather than sale to collectors â€" the secondary market for FM sets continues to be slow.

As always, you provide the answers we seek.

I recall going through a bunch of coins in an estate, & finding the Franklin Mint "presidents" silver medalet set, with the Gerald Ford medalet still in the envelope with the letter from the director, explaining that Nixon's resignation had resulted in the early release of the next in the series!
They also struck some coinage for national governments in the '60s & '70s, before they slid completely into the production of elaborate kitsch items.

I can add two little bits of information to add to what Commems said:

First, Gilroy Roberts was fired from the Mint as Chief Engraver because he was moonlighting at the Franklin Mint. I have this from good sources within the Mint- it's not common knowledge. The cover story was that he retired.

Second, Coin dealers did not like the Franklin Mint because they felt that it was a direct competitor- this is why, as Commems said, there was no secondary market.

If you read through some old numismatic magazines, specifically from the 1930s and 1940s- you will see that privately issued medals were treated as serious numismatic items. the hobby was a little more misty eyed about collecting and learning- I think as we all grew more cynical after Viet Nam, we started to see darker motives in everything. When the Franklin Mint medals didn't go up in value (outside of bullion value)- there was a sudden turn in favor for them.

But like everything- if something is ignored long enough- it will become scarce... and Franklin Mint pieces once ignored will become coveted by somebody sometime in the future...

It's still there. They're trying to tear it down to build a development of townhomes, condo's, offices and shops. No more than 20 minutes from where I've lived my whole life.

Well silver is silver so in that respect it plays the spot game in terms of investment but as to premiums there has to be a resurgence of collecting FM sets. It has to become "hip" again so to speak.

Kill the ZOMBIES.