A PostModern Coin Collection
By Edwin Johnston
under construction
Over the past seven years or so, I have assembled a collection of
roughly penny-sized pewter medalets produced by the Gallery Mint Museum
(GMM). These small coin-like tokens are created from hand engraved dies
and stamped out on GMM's mobile mini-mint screw press at various coin
shows and numismatically related events around the country. I picked up
my first one of these in January 1997 at the Greater Houston Coin
Club's annual Money Show. The design of the medalet is based on the
1796 United States (US) quarter eagle coin (a $2.50 face value gold
piece) which is also roughly penny-sized. The pewter design served as a
promotion for the then-upcoming release of GMM's reproduction of the
1796 quarter eagle minted in 22 karat gold.
The pewter version, however, is a humorous parody of the historically
and technically accurate gold reproduction. The obverse ("heads" side)
of the original 1796 quarter eagle features a profile of a female head
sporting a "liberty cap" (a soft, cone-shaped hat politically popular
during the 18th century American and French Revolutions) with the motto
"LIBERTY" above the head and the date "1796" below it. In contrast to
this, the pewter medalet has an added wide brim to the cap making it
appear to be a "ten gallon hat" (this was in Texas, after all.)
Additionally, the motto was transformed to "LIBERTIE YIE YIPPY", around
the top of the head, with the then-current date of "1997" below it. The
reverse ("tails" side) of the 1796 original depicts a heraldic eagle
with an array of 16 stars above it (for the number of states in the
country at the time), surmounted by an arc of clouds. The text around
the eagle reads "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA". The reverse of the pewter
piece has the same eagle design, but only contains one star, again
symbolizing Texas (the "Lone Star State".) The text surrounding that
design reads "GREATER HOUSTON COIN CLUB" in the same typestyle as on
the original. What fun!
Back then, I signed onto the GMM mailing list and began receiving their
newsletters in the mail. In one issue, I noticed that in 1996 they made
a pewter medalet that also sparked my interest. This one was released
during the American Numismatic Association (ANA) convention held in
Denver, Colorado that year. This GMM pewter piece parodied the highly
sought after "private" or "territorial" issue gold ten-dollar
piece produced in the 19th century by Clark, Gruber and Company.
The primary graphic element on the obverse of the original gold piece
is a mountain surrounded at its base by foliage. Above that the text
reads "PIKES PEAK GOLD". Just below the mountain is the word "DENVER"
and below that is an abbreviated denomination of "TEN D." The pewter
piece has the same mountain but the text is changed above it to read
"PIKES PEAK PEWTER" and the denomination below altered to "TIN D.", as
tin is the main component of pewter. The reverse of the original has a
heraldic eagle surrounded by the words "CLARK GRUBER & CO." with
the date "1860" at the bottom. The reverse of the pewter also has the
same eagle but the text reads "105th CONVENTION A.N.A." and the
then-current date of "1996". I was finally able to obtain a specimen of
the "PIKES PEAK PEWTER" this year.
Those 1996 and 1997 pewter medalets are emblematic of what I term
"postmodern" coins . Many people find the concepts of postmodernism
very difficult to understand, which is not aided by the fact that many
experts on the subject wildly disagree as to its meaning, genealogy or
even existence. I will save the readers a torturous extended definition
(while recommending further study) and simply point out a few
relatively accepted observations about postmodernism, especially as
they may pertain to GMM products.
One of the main tenets, or practices, of postmodernism is the creation
and production (or re-production) of things in the ironic manner of
parody, pastiche and quotation, often seeking to be both humorous and
unpretentious. This new style is a borrowing and mixing of old styles.
What this amounts to in the end is a sort of re-presentation rather
than a presentation, a recombinant culture of campiness and kitsch,
recycling earlier genres and styles in new contexts, through
self-evident mimicry and self-conscious nostalgia. These motifs are not
only recognizable and apparent in the 1996 and 1997 GMM pewter
medalets, but also in the architecture of Philip Johnson, the fiction
writing of John Barth, the philosophy of Jacques Derrida, the films of
Quentin Tarantino and perhaps even the spectacle of the recent
Democratic Party national convention. Keeping these general aspects of
postmodernism in mind and adding a few more as are needed along the
way, I will continue with some more notable pewter medalets that I
have, and further on, some other intriguing pieces from GMM, some of
which I own and others which I do not.
In 1998 GMM produced a pewter medalet for the ANA Summer Seminar that
featured a contemporary version of the "Classic Head Liberty" on the
obverse, with all the traditional mottoes surrounding it that are found
on circulating coins, like the words "LIBERTY", "IN GOD WE TRUST" and
the then-current date of "1998". It was made at a time when new designs
were being considered to replace the Susan B. Anthony dollar that had
been in circulation since 1979. The designer of the pewter obverse, GMM
chief engraver Ron Landis, created this somewhat sentimental tribute to
an era prior to when presidents and other historical figures were
depicted on US coins. (N.B., Landis also submitted more professional
designs directly to the US Mint in a competition where he ended up as
one of the finalists.) Additionally, it served as a homage to the
designer of the Susan B. Anthony dollar himself, the late US Mint
engraver Frank Gasparro, who had originally designed a more traditional
"Classic Head Liberty" for the small dollar coin in the late 1970s that
was rejected in favor of his Susan B. Anthony profile.
In stark contrast to the obverse, the reverse of the 1998 pewter
medalet was designed by engraver/sculptor Virginia Janssen, who
employed a bold and relatively high relief eagle head with an olive
sprig in its beak. GMM products usually have a harmony evident between
the obverse and reverse sides, but in this case there is a distinct
fusion of those dynamics, additionally so in that both sides
prominently bear the date "1998", which is generally reserved for
obverse placement only.
The following year, in 1999, the GMM medalet produced for the ANA
convention in Chicago portrayed on its obverse a portrait of a helmeted
Minerva, which was adapted from what was probably the most extravagant
US coin ever made -- the $50 gold Panama-Pacific International
Exposition commemorative of 1915. Two points are worth noting here
about the obverse design. The original gold coin has Minerva bearing a
partially visible shield on which the date of 1915 in Roman numerals
adorns the top of the shield. The GMM pewter version has the date 1999
in Roman numerals on its shield and the face of Minerva is much less
feminine looking on the pewter piece, even androgynous. Androgyny is
another key component of postmodernism. The reverse of the pewter
forgoes the full figure owl on the original gold coin, substituting the
ANA "oil lamp" of knowledge instead.
Next, I will move on to a series of GMM pewter medalets that
essentially mimic previously circulating US coins, without being
required by law to include a COPY stamp. During the year 2000, GMM
produced a design based on the so-called "Mercury dime" (or more
properly, "Winged Liberty") that was minted from the years 1916 through
1945. Slight modifications on the obverse of the pewter piece included
using the then-current date and substituting the word "PEACE" for the
"IN GOD WE TRUST" motto, which symbolized GMM's assistance on the late
1990s project to have circulating coins of countries worldwide to
contain the word "Peace" during that year. There were at least seven
different reverse designs made to go along with the "Mercury" obverse
in 2000, focusing on a variety of venues, and two of those included the
fasces symbol that appears on the reverse of the original dime.
Perhaps the closest mimic of a previously circulating US coin was the
GMM Indian Head cent design issued for the ANA Summer Seminar in 2002
and the Florida United Numismatists (FUN) coin show in 2003. The
original version that it was based on was minted from 1864 through
1909, predating the advent of the Lincoln cent. The only difference on
the obverse between the old copper cents and the pewter medalets are
the 21st century dates on the GMM pieces. GMM's close attention to
detail on this design even extends to the miniscule motto of "LIBERTY"
across the headdress band. Coin grading guides for well-worn Indian
Head cents determine the grade of a coin based on how many letters in
the word "LIBERTY" are still in evidence. There is also a tiny letter
"L" on the lower part of the band which served as the 19th century
designer's surname initial, James B. Longacre. The irony here being
that it is the same surname initial of the GMM engraver, Ron Landis.
On the reverse, the GMM pewter piece precisely copied the oak leaf
laurel wreath design surmounted by a shield, but instead of depicting
the original striped shield, the GMM designed shields contained the
letters "ANA" and "FUN", respectively. The original denomination text
of "ONE CENT" was substituted on the pewter medalets with text
signifying each respective event and location. Additionally, tiny
mintmarks were added to the GMM reverses, using "CC" to symbolize
Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colorado on the 2002 piece and
"O" for Orlando, Florida on the 2003. Historically, the official US
coin mintmarks "CC" stood for Carson City, Nevada and "O" for New
Orleans, Louisiana.
The next most accurate rendition of a previously circulating US coin
came the following year, in 2004, where GMM paid homage to the obsolete
"Three cent nickel" coin (in distinction to the equally obsolete, yet
much smaller, "Three cent silver" coin) that was issued from 1865
through 1889. Once again, the obverse of both the original and the
pewter piece differ only in terms of the pewter's 21st century date. As
well, the reverse contains the same olive branch laurel wreath. The
only difference between the two being the substitution of the
original's denomination of the Roman numerals "III" with a similarly
styled array of the three letters "FUN", and in smaller type the name
of the event and its location.
Later on in 2004, GMM made another "Three cent nickel" pewter medalet
commemorating on its reverse the 40th annual Georgia Numismatic
Association coin show. The specimen I have of this is "encased" in the
middle of an authentic silver 1964 Kennedy half dollar, where the
center of the half dollar was removed and the pewter token wedged
inside. In doing this, GMM essentially made the literal face value of
the half dollar obsolete.
My exposition of the penny-sized GMM pewter medalets ends here with an
entirely whimsical piece, one that I do not possess, yet I have seen a
photo of. This difficult-to-classify piece began with a specially
shaped bit of pewter that was then stamped about eight different times
and in various locations to produce something approaching the figure of
a teddy bear. These types of experiments are quite popular during the
annual ANA Summer Seminar creative errors classes. (Do not attempt to
spend any of these in vending machines!)
Related to the aforementioned subjects, but being a bit larger, more
quarter-sized, are a couple of pewter token designs that are also based
on previously circulating US coins. These two issues, one a homage to
the "Mercury" dime, the other one to the Indian Head (or "Buffalo")
nickel, were minted in a style of coining which could be termed ultra
high relief, or in sculptural terms, bas-relief. The obverse portraits
literally pop out of the discs.
Two other larger designs are worthy of note here, these being made of
copper and are the size of the old US large cents, which have been
obsolete since the mid- 19th century. These are slightly smaller than a
half dollar and more than three times the weight of a copper Lincoln
penny. The first of these copper pieces has an accurate reproduction of
an 1836 "Coronet Head" large cent on its obverse. The reverse has the
same wreath design as on the original, but the denomination of "ONE
CENT" is replaced with "ANA 2000", and "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" with
"l09th CONVENTION PHILADELPHIA".
The second copper piece depicts on its obverse a faithful reproduction
of a 1972-D Lincoln cent ("D", for the Denver mint) that is 50% larger
than its genuine, circulating counterpart, scaled up to fit the large
cent format. This piece was distributed as a memento to returning
alumni at the 30th anniversary of the Lincoln High School class of 1972
in Denver, Colorado. A further irony exists on the reverse where the
main graphic elements are two curved wheat ears, which were
discontinued on Lincoln cents in 1959, and since then replaced by the
Lincoln Memorial design.
Staying on the subject of cents, it is worthwhile to mention a
promotional piece produced in 1992, prior to the formation of GMM. The
base material for this is an actual copper Lincoln cent with a Memorial
reverse that was "over struck" with a new design. The obverse portrays
back-to-back portraits from the waist up of then soon-to-be GMM
founders Ron Landis and Joe Rust, depicted as the Doe Brothers band,
holding a mandolin and a guitar, respectively. The traditional motto
was changed to "IN C.O.D. WE TRUST". On the reverse is a trolley car
that closely resembles the underlying Lincoln Memorial design. The
legend there is changed to "E STRINGUS BROKUN" and the denomination
reads "DOE DOUGH ONE CENT". These over struck pennies were offered as
gifts at Doe Brothers band performances to folks who contributed to the
tip jar.
Another GMM over struck coin is a version of a Buffalo nickel minted
over a genuine Jefferson nickel. GMM did a short series of these, based
on the folk art of "hobo nickel" carvings, where hobos in the early
2Oth century would resculpt either the obverse or reverse of a Buffalo
nickel in an artistic and often humorous fashion, to trade, perhaps,
for a meal or some temporary lodging. This is also evidence of
postmodernism, blurring the distinction between high and low art. The
piece I have has transformed what would have been the Indian Head
obverse into an American eagle, with a date of 1997 where the Buffalo
nickel date would be, and Ron Landis' initials below. Landis had
originally carved that very same design on an actual Buffalo nickel.
The reverse features the familiar buffalo, but the denomination is
changed to "HOBO TOKEN" and below that are the initials "ES" for Eureka
Springs, Arkansas.
In 2001, GMM ceased over striking Jefferson nickels for their annual
hobo token designs and began minting them on silver coin blanks (or
planchets). My favorite hobo token came out this year, in 2004, and has
an armadillo in place of the buffalo on the reverse. It is comedic that
GMM substituted a lowly critter (often found as road kill) for the
majestic American buffalo, but it is entirely apt, as the founders of
GMM once lived in Texas (where the armadillo roam).
During the past two years, 2003 and 2004, versions of the GMM hobo
tokens portrayed on their obverses portraits in profile of both
founders, Ron Landis and Joe Rust, respectively. This points to another
postmodern practice, one of self-referentiality. This sense of
self-referentiality often turns into self-mockery in GMM's periodic
newsletter and is evidence of humbleness, considering the national
recognition that Landis and Rust regularly receive.
I will begin to conclude with a description of a number of GMM pieces
that I do not possess, but I include them here because they do
exemplify the theme of this essay at its most extreme. I refer to these
as (post) modem ancients. In the year 2000, GMM produced a reproduction
of an Athenian didrachm, a circulating coin in ancient Greece. It has
the goddess Minerva on the obverse and the very traditional
bulging-eyed owl on the reverse with the Greek letters "AΘE"
(A, Θ "theta", E = Athens). The GMM piece is hand-hammered
on hot silver slugs, just like the original, and bears the required
COPY stamp. In contrast, GMM minted two parodies of that in 1999 and
2000, for the ANA and the Johnson County Numismatic Society,
respectively. On the reverses, the "AΘE" is substituted with
"ANA" on one piece and "GMM" on the other. There is also added text on
the reverses to signify each organization, done in a style reminiscent
of Greek letters. Seemingly as a bit of an anachronism, the Roman
numerals "MM" representing the year 2000 grace the Johnson County medal.
Perhaps the most mixed-style coin produced by GMM is another
hand-hammered silver piece that was commissioned by the 257th Army
Medical Corps, a sub-unit of the 55th Medical Group under the command
of the 44th Medical Brigade, out of Fort Bragg. The obverse depicts the
Greek god of medicine, Asklepios, with his written name and a set of
four seemingly Greek-style initials standing for "By Permission of the
44th”. The reverse has the Latin legend "NOVUS MEDICUS", meaning
"new medic" and the Arabic numerals "55" encircled by a wreath, below
which are the Roman numerals for "257".
There are far too many other playful examples of GMM products to
continue to list here, not to mention the multitude of historically
accurate reproductions sold to collectors to raise funds to build their
museum. However, my survey here has provided ample references showing
how creatively GMM has been able to collage various aspects of coin
minting history. This has piqued the interest of collectors and added a
fresh set of experiences to numerous public events in support of the
numismatic hobby. I began this writing project to focus on the
postmodern nature of a number of GMM pieces that I own in order to
illustrate and educate folks about the exciting work that GMM is
involved in. In my experience, GMM is a highly professional, productive
and prolific organization dedicated to students of numismatics, and
quite accessible to everyone who has an interest. Recall the old Bible
saying: "As a tree is known by its fruit, so a righteous man is known
by his works."
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