Owner Comments:
MINT MEDAL APPEARANCE/CONDITION:
Bronze Variey - Brilliant Gem
Pedigree: #1410 (1,410th Set Minted of 1,876; Noted on Original Display Case)
*Brilliant, near proof-like lustrous red surfaces with exceptional eye-appeal - This specimen corresponds to its silver and gold plated counterparts from the same 1,410th set.*
MINT MEDAL BACKGROUND:
The first commemorative medal to be struck at the Denver Mint.
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Four varieties were struck by the Denver Mint: Gold, Silver Proof, Bronze and Gold Plated. Examples of all issues are included in this collection except gold. Additionally, a fifth bronze variety exists with the Denver Mint on the obverse instead of the Colorado settler. However, the reverse is the same as the prior three. An example of this issue also resides in this collection. A top-pop example of the “Silver Proof,” “Gold Plated,” and “Bronze Denver Mint Obverse” issues are included in this set. As for the original Bronze issue, the example in this collection is the second finest known in MS-66. Only one has been graded higher in MS-67. The Gold Plated issue in this set is the only known specimen to have been given the “PL” (proof-like) designation by NGC which exhibits its phenomenal quality. — Their respective catalog numbers by William Swoger, NGC grades, and pedigree (if applicable) are as follows:
- Silver: SWO53lb (PF-64 & PF-65 #1410: TOP-POP)
- Gold Plated: SWO-53lc (MS-65 PL #1410: TOP-POP)
- Bronze: SWO-53ld (MS-65 RD #1410 & MS-66 RD: 2nd Finest)
- Bronze Alternative Obverse: SWO-53ll-X (MS-68 RD: TOP-POP)
DESIGNER: Frank Gasparro
CATALOG NUMBER: SWO-53ld
RARITY: 41,000 (Number Minted)
(NGC Pop = 1; 2 Finer - NGC Total Pop = 4): [04/2022]
MEDAL DESCRIPTION:
(Denver Minted, Bronze, 33mm, Round, Plain Edge)
OBVERSE: Colorado / "Land of Promise" / (Settler on Horseback)
REVERSE: (Colorado Rocky Mountains; Colorado and USA in “76” Design) / 1876-1976 Colorado Centennial / D
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
““The Denver Mint issued limited three-piece sets of 1976 Colorado Centennial / US Bicentennial commemorative medals, which were also sold separately. The medals were created by the Colorado Centennial-Bicentennial Commission and were struck "in commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary of the statehood of Colorado." (Public Law 93-227)
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“The medal that was made possible by this Public Law and that was struck in three medals — bronze, silver and gold— was thus the only official Colorado Centennial-Bicentennial medal— A unique metal, authorized by an act of the Congress of the United States for the state of Colorado. It was the first medal ever to bear the Denver Mint Mark.
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The obverse side of the medal depicts a prospector in buckskin, on horseback, viewing a wide vista of high mountains and deep fertile valleys. The metal says,”COLORADO—LAND OF PROMISE”. The reverse side of the metal is the ‘76 Colorado Centennial-Bcentennial commission logo. Frank Gasparro, chief engraver of the United States Mint in Philadelphia, supervised both the sculpture and the die–making process for the medal. The trial strike for the bronze medal was held in February of 1975, under the auspices of the CCBFoundation. The strike for the silver medal was held at the Mint in November of 1975. The gold medal was not struck until November of 1976. All medals were minted by December 31, 1976 and mintage figures are as follows: bronze 46,000 minted, of which 5,000 were played with 24-karat gold; silver medals, 20,200 minted; and gold medals, only 100 minted. These figures were certified at the end of 1976 by the Superintendent of the Denver Mint, (Mrs.) Betty Higby.
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Medals were sold separately or in a limited edition set of all three in a case. The special Commemorative Set, or Archive Set, was produced in a limited quantity of 1,876. Each case was serial numbered and the names of donors for each set were inscribed in the State Archives. One Archive Set was given to the division of numismatics at the Smithsonian i
Institution’s National Museum of History and Technology in Washington, D.C.” — Credited Source: “One in a Hundred” - The Final Report of The Colorado Centennial-Bicentennial Commission | Page 47; Published 1977