Rock Island Percy Eklund Medals

When I look at these two medals two old sayings come to mind; "no good deed goes unpunished" and " there is an exception to every rule. These medals are one of the exceptions to that first rule. In 1976 I came to Iola to work for Krause Publications. KP had dubbed the small village "The Coin Collector's Capital". Within two years an up and coming coin dealer had also relocated to Iola. As he was just getting started as a consignment auction dealer his cash flow was too tight to hold any long term investment material. Several of us helped him with attributions and the like which meant that we were also the first to see many new items as they came in. One evening we were shown these two very nice historically important gold medals. Saddly the medals would have to be scrapped since they would not likely sell quickly at the then record high gold prices. No one in the so called Coin Collector's Capital could or would pony up the $550 to save the medals from the melting pot. No one that is other than me, myself and I. The medals are both marked 18K and are named to Percy Eklund. The larger medal marks the founding of the Last Man's Club July 1, 1935 with Mr Eklund as the first President. Last man clubs were common among WWI veterans from the same units which may indicate that this ground was originally a National Guard unit. This medal is 38.5 mm in diameter and weighs 27.95 grams.The second medal is a gold Masonic Chapter Penny 31.7 mm in diameter weighing 21.84 grams. This medal tells us that Mr Eklund became a Mason Sept 12, 1929. So in conclusion, my good deed saved this bit of history and punished me with a gold price so high that it still threatens the existence of these medals almost fifty years later.

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