Rare Franklin Mint Gilroy Roberts Birds Medals Series of 5 1972 #26-30 sterling

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Rare Franklin Mint Gilroy Roberts Birds Medals Series of 5 1972 #26-30 sterling:
$625.00

As you can see below the series of 5 that I am selling from 1972 is THE fourth RAREST. Only 7000 minted. Most anywhere you look to find the rarest of these wonderful 2 oz sterling silver round medal Franklin Mints you cannot find these years. Most all are from the earlier years since there were 13000 of those made. Excellent condition, in original plastic containers never opened. Coins excellent condition. These 5 from 1972 are 1. #26 AMERICAN EGRET 2. #27 CARDINAL 3. #28 SWALLOW-TAILED KITE4. #29 MOURNING DOVE 5. #30 SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHERRoberts Birds (named after famous sculptor Gilroy Roberts) was one of the Franklin Mint\'s most popular issues, and also most unusual. The medals were issued one at a time, rather than in sets, although each Series of 5 was priced at a discount. Ten series of 5 medals were issued, called Series I through X (Series I is medals 1-5, Series II is medals 6-10, etc.). The mintage of each individual medal - even within a series - is different; the numbers given in the table below are approximate averages for the series. Each individual medal came in a plastic capsule, but no other packaging. Since the set became very popular, the Franklin Mint later offered a variety of packaging options, including individual frames, frames for a set of 5, and albums that would hold multiple frames. Most of these medals are seen as loose medals, individually or in small groups, and some are seen as a Series, or multiple Series. I can\'t recall ever seeing a complete set of all 50 medals for sale, so if you want to collect a complete set of these, it may be difficultMintage Information: Franklin Mint

No.

Metal

Mintage

Size

Weight Each

Weight Set

IssuePrice Each

IssuePriceSet

YearIssued

1-5

Sterling Silver

13000

51mm

1000 grains

10.4oz

$20

$90

1970

6-10

Sterling Silver

12000

51mm

1000 grains

10.4oz

$20

$90

1971

11-15

Sterling Silver

8000

51mm

1000 grains

10.4oz

$20

$90

1971

16-20

Sterling Silver

7500

51mm

1000 grains

10.4oz

$20

$90

1971

21-25

Sterling Silver

8800

51mm

1000 grains

10.4oz

$20

$90

1971

26-30

Sterling Silver

7000

51mm

1000 grains

10.4oz

$20

$90

1972

31-35

Sterling Silver

6700

51mm

1000 grains

10.4oz

$25

$110

1973

36-40

Sterling Silver

5700

51mm

1000 grains

10.4oz

$30

$140

1974

41-45

Sterling Silver

4400

51mm

1000 grains

10.4oz

$40

$180

1975

46-50

Sterling Silver

4400

51mm

1000 grains

10.4oz

$40

$180

1976

Gilroy RobertsUS Chief Coin Designer and Engraver - Kennedy Half Dollar

Gilroy Roberts was born on March 11, 1905 in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Throughout his childhood, Gilroy was surrounded by art and grew a passion and natural talent for it. After all, his father was also a professional sculptor and so Roberts learned how to sculpt and create works of art starting at a young age. He started with works of clay and then moved on to more advanced modeling such as carving wood. Eventually, he began sculpting art out of more difficult materials such as stone. As Gilroy got older, he took up evening art classes while attending high school. He studied under a popular sculptor named Paul Remy, who helped Robert become more experienced and hone his skills in the arts.

Roberts helped him with some artwork for the Roosevelt Dime. In 1947, Sinnock passed away before he could finish designing theFranklin Half Dollar. He was able to finish just the obverse depicting the Bust of Benjamin Franklin and part of the reverse of the coin, but Gilroy Roberts was actually the one responsible for finishing the design and engraving the Liberty Bell on the reverse of the coin. The Coinage Act of 1873 stated that an eagle was required on any coinage greater than 10 cents, and so Roberts added a small eagle to the reverse as an afterthought.After Sinnock Passed away, US President Harry Truman appointed that Gilroy Roberts take over the post and become the ninth Chief Engraver and Sculptor of the US Mint starting on July 22, 1948. Throughout his career at the Mint, Roberts produced many commemorative coins and medals. Some of these included Congressional medals for US Presidents such as Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. One of these medals would be used as the basis for a new US coin later on. Foreign governments also called on the US Mint to assist and produce coin designs for their own nations. Some of these countries included Denmark, Colombia, El Salvador, Cuba, Haiti, Ethiopia and Liberia. Throughout the decade, there wasn\'t much demand for new US coinage and work was getting slow, except for the new design of the Lincoln Memorial Cent. In 1954, nearly all production of commemorative coins was halted as well. That changed in 1963.

On November 22, 1963, US President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The nation was stunned and in a state of mourning for Kennedy. Immediately, just within a few days, there was a call to honor the President on US coinage, either on the US Quarter Dollar, Half Dollar or Dollar coins. Based on the preference of the widowed Jacqueline Kennedy, the Half Dollar was chosen for a redesign.

The design for the new coin would be based on a presidential medal that Gilroy Roberts andFrank Gasparro, who was a top assistant of Roberts at the time, had both created in 1961 honoring the inauguration of John F. Kennedy. Roberts designed the front of the medal depicting the bust of Kennedy while Gasparro designed the reverse of the coin. Roberts had actually met the President in the White House in 1961 in order to work on his portrait. Roberts had stated that Kennedy\'s personality was \"very personable, dynamic and very outgoing\". He noted that Kennedy did not critique his work, but had asked Robert for his advice on the political significance of the medal. Roberts was amused by this and replied to Kennedy that there would be no political overtones involved. Roberts found this experience helpful and very worthwhile when it came down to designing the new half dollar

During the design of the half dollar, Roberts had created a modified version of Kennedy based on the presidential medal. Gasparro had to rework the reverse of the medal and came up with a larger version of the eagle used on the Great Seal of the United States. Once the design was completed, Roberts was asked to come to Washington and meet with Jackie Kennedy in order to receive her approval on the coin. She was very impressed with the designs for both sides of the coin. She recommended that the coin would be improved if Kennedy\'s hair was less pronounced and if more accents were added to it. Roberts agreed with her and stated it would give the portrait more spontaneity. With a few slight modifications to the coin, theKennedy Half Dollarwas approved and was produced for general circulation in 1964