Ben Franklin Silver Firefighters Medal

An excellent addition.

Interesting read ... thanks for posting the links.

I when I bought this .. I was thinking I would use it to fill one of the unlabeled
holes in the Dansco. When I got home I see it is 40mm instead of 38mm
I was hoping for.

Then I thought it must be made using the same planchet as the ASE's.
Your older post confirms that.

Awesome addition!


I have to get me one now

Nice! I thought about buying this but wasn't sure where it would fit as the only other silver medal I know of is the 9/11 one. Is there more?

You'd think they use a more youthful image of Franklin. Maybe none exist I guess?

I will try...

The US Mint has struck silver national commemorative medals for private sponsors for 140 years, the first of these date back to the 1876 US Centennial. The medals in this series have generally been sold/distributed by their sponsor.

Over the past 40 years or so - let's call it the "modern era" - the US Mint has handled the sales/distribution of the commemorative silver medals it produces.

Here's the list of modern-era silver commemorative medals:

1. 1973: Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams [part of the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration (ARBA) series]
2. 1974: John Adams (ARBA)
3. 1975: Paul Revere (ARBA)
4. 1976: Thomas Jefferson (ARBA)
5. 1976: National Bicentennial Medal featuring the Statue of Liberty
6. 1992/93: US Mint Bicentennial (Read More Here)
7. 1993: Benjamin Franklin Firefighters
8. 2003: National Wildlife Refuge System Centennial (A series of four medals: Bald Eagle, Canvasback Duck, Elk and Salmon.)
9. 2011: 10th Anniversary of September 11th

You can find more information about the ARBA medals in a previous post I made about them here: ARBA Medals. (Maybe it's time for me to post an update?)


The Mint has also released silver versions of the FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson presidential series medals (the bronze versions of each have been available for years).

Also, the Mint launched its silver American Liberty medal series in 2016 with plans for continued annual releases.

The presidential and Liberty medals are not true commemorative medals as they do not mark an important milestone / anniversary - they are better described as thematic or topical medals - but many collectors are happy to ignore the semantics when assembling sets of the Mint's modern era silver medals.

As alaways .. I am amazed at the information commens provides us.

I will have to read those past links now.

@commems: Great list, however you left off the America in Space -- Young Astronauts series of copper, silver and gold medals in standard ASE/quarter eagle sizing in unc and proof from 1988. There was also a 12oz troy pound version of the silver. All I can remember from this offering was the designs were drawn by kids.