Commemorative Medals

Commemorative medals are minted to signify special events. They are typically not legal tender, although some commemorative coins do have a legal tender value. Commemorative medals are officially awarded to people, organizations, or events who have achieved something uncommon or noteworthy.

United States commemorative medals are created by the Treasury, which also mints replicas of the actual medal. Today, these replica medals are typically made out of bronze. Examples of these medals in the United States are typically divided into two categories: list medals, which include Presidents, directors of the Treasury, and historical buildings of the United States, and event-oriented medals such as military medals, centennial and bicentennial medals, and humanitarian or cultural medals.

Each nation issues their own version of commemorative medals. Since these medals are minted in the native language of the issuing country, it can be challenging to discover information on specific medals. Each one has a story to tell, and discovering these stories can be equally rewarding and difficult.

Quick Facts

• Presidential medals originated as peace medals,offered by explorers to Native America chieftains and ambassadors to politicians of other nations
• From 1980 to 1999, the Denver mint included a Treasury medal featuring the mint facility in its mint proof sets. In 2000, this was replaced by the Sacagawea dollar
• A special gold medal series was issued from 1980 to 1984 featuring famous American artists. Only 10 editions were minted with selected artists ranging from Mark Twain to Louis Armstrong