MORE ON THE 1959 HAWAII GOLD STATEHOOD MEDAL

Thanks to Jan Monroe for offering the information regarding the mintage of this piece. I would sincerely appreciate a citation to the research which Jan did to arrive at the mintage of 58, so that I can answer appropriately any inquiries I may receive in the future about the basis for that mintage figure.

I still contend that it's more than reasonable that a number of both the Hawaii and Alaska gold medals would have been melted in spite of the fact that the issue price was $850, as Jan properly states. In 1980 those medals that were purchased some 20 years before for $850 would have melted at well over $5,000 when gold was $800 per ounce.

I recently weighed one of these gold medals at precisely 217.5 grams, which is exactly 7 ounces. However that 7 ounces is only 900 Fine, and so stamped on the edge, resulting in these medals containing 6.29 ounces of gold.

When gold hit $800 back on the '80s, it would have been a perfect time for a buyer who wondered if he would ever get out from under that $850 price to take his profits and run (gleefully). I'd not be surprised if MOST of the medals were melted - at $5000+.

I answered most collector questions when I was at Medallic Art Company (1966-77). To answer such a question (as the Hawaii Statehood Medal) I would search the files. There were always two file folders: (1) correspondence and (2) shop orders. Correspondence was always between the salesman and the clients. The shop orders always contained the hard facts.

I would gather the pertinent facts and dictate a letter to whoever asked a question. Then I would type up a "green card" with these facts and file that in the archive card file. Before I left the company I made copies of these green cards and this is where I got the facts I submitted to Jan Monroe.

Here is the exact text of that green card:

Hawaii Statehood Medal, 1959 59-92

Quantity Struck:

2 1/2-inch (63mm) gold (limited 100) . . . . . . . . . . 58

2 1/2-inch (63mm) silver (unnumbered). . . . . . . . 154

2 1/2-inch (63mm) silver (serially numbered) . . 3,000

2 1/2-inch (63mm) bronze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,599

On a second green card:

Hawaii Statehood Medal, 1959 59-92

Notes:

Gold medals numbered up to 55, 59, 69, 100 (total 58)

Official distributors: Coin & Currency, N.Y.C. for US.; Edward D. Sultan Company, Ltd, Honolulu for Hawaii.

Silver unnumbered medals (154) went to Governor James K. Kealoha in Honolulu.

I cannot guarantee any number beyond what I had recorded on the green cards. All the original files have long since been discarded. Of more than 6,000 items I cataloged before 1976, I estimate I had green cards on perhaps 20. So I am not a source of quantity struck data for any Medallic Art Co item.