First listed in the 1966 book, Medallic Portraits of John F. Kennedy by Edward C. Rochette. Now grouped with the newly defined
Presidential Medal of Appreciation award series.
Currently, only two U.S. Presidents (Eisenhower and Kennedy) had the Bureau of the Mint (now called the U.S. Mint) design and manufacture "appreciatory medals". The U.S. Mint
has never published general numismatic information about this medal series and it took research to discover and share information about this U.S Mint medal series. These medals were only struck while the President was in office. These medals were never sold through the U.S. Mint.
These medals were awarded by the President himself or by his direction through a White House staff member. Currently, seven nations have been identified in which Kennedy awarded his medal.
This Kennedy medal is assigned a catalog identifier of JFK-C5-02 in my book
http://www.coinweek.com/education/n...edal-series/. The Kennedy medal is a Class 5 presidential award.
Both the obverse and reverse was designed by
Frank Gasparro and struck in 1962. This is a bronze medal with a 44 mm diameter. The "F. Gasparro" hallmark on the obverse is located on the truncated portion of the lower right lapel/suit.
My research findings of the reverse of this medal is intriguing.
It can be said that the Kennedy appreciation award medal's presidential seal design is the design that influenced the design of the reverse of the Kennedy half-dollar.
The "story" that indicates that the presidential seal from the Kennedy inauguration medal was the impetus for the reverse of the Kennedy half-dollar is
incorrect.
Frank Gasparro reused his torch design from the Eisenhower Class 2 medals for the Kennedy inauguration medal.
Lastly, my three JFK-C5-02 in my collection. Who has the other 297 specimens? The Kennedy medal in the sealed bag was a bear to locate...
Posted 10/31/2015 1:14 pm
