Owner Comments:
MEDAL APPEARANCE/CONDITION:
TOP POP: Bronze Variety - Brilliant Gem/High-Relief
Pedigree: “National Park Centennial”
*An exceptional strike with fine detail on the high points. Antiqued bronze surfaces allow the devices to really “pop out” when examining the specimen. — Despite being well maintained, high-relief issues tend to be challenging to obtain in grades higher than MS-66. — Matches is silver counterpart of the same design which is also included in this collection.*
MEDAL BACKGROUND:
Issued by the Medallic Art Company, N.Y., circa 1972 to recognize Rocky Mountain National Park located northwest of Denver in north-central Colorado. The medal also recognizes Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep which are native to the Rockies, as well as Longs Peak, the tallest mountain in the park. 1915 is recognized on the reverse, as that was the year President Woodrow Wilson established the park boundaries and protected the area.
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The National Parks Centennial Series was issued circa 1972 by the Medallic Art Company, N.Y., as a 36-piece medal set in both .999 fine silver and bronze. The series includes the following issues: Keystone; Yosemite; Glacier; Everglades; Grand Teton; Acadia; Great Smoky Mountains; Grand Canyon; Mount Rainier; Rocky Mountain; Hawaii Volcanoes; Olympic; Shenandoah; Hot Springs; Mammoth Cave; Platt; Petrified Forest; Kings Canyon; Wind Cave; Sequoia; Zion; Carlsbad Caverns; Mesa Verde; Crater Lake; Voyageurs; Lassen Volcanic; Bryce Canyon; North Cascades; Haleakala; Virgin Islands; Redwood; Big Bend; Mount McKinley; Canyonlands; Guadalupe Mountains; Isle Royale. The medals were originally issued in a green cardboard album and sleeve. They were produced under a contract with a company called Roche Jaune (French for "stone" and "yellow" -- a reference to the first national park, Yellowstone). Each cardboard album holds 18 medals in labeled holes.
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Of the 36 parks officially recognized in the National Parks Centennial Series, two are from Colorado; Mesa Verde and Rocky Mountain National Park. Examples of both the bronze and silver varieties from each respective park reside in this collection. Their type, variety, and grade are as follows:
- 1972 Mesa Verde National Park (Bronze): NGC MS-66 (TOP POP)
- 1972 Mesa Verde National Park (Silver): NGC MS-65 (1 Finer)
- 1972 Rocky Mountain National Park (Bronze): NGC MS-65 (TOP POP)
- 1972 Rocky Mountain National Park (Silver): NGC MS-66 (TOP POP)
*NGC Census as of 09/2022
DESIGNER: Frank Hagel
LETTERING: Joseph Di Lorenzo
MARKETED: Roche Jaune
RARITY: Limited 15,000 Sets (Only ~3,000 Sets Sold)
(*TOP POP* NGC Pop = 1; NONE - NGC Total Pop = 1) [09/2022]
**Only example graded by NGC**
MEDAL DESCRIPTION:
(Medallic Art Company, N.Y., Bronze, 38mm, High-Relief, Round, Plain Edge)
OBVERSE: 1872 • National Parks Centennial • 1972 / (Depiction of 2 Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep Amongst the Colorado Rocky Mountains)
REVERSE: Rocky Mountain National Park / 1915 / Longs Peak / (Depiction of Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park)
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
(1972 National Park Centennial Series):
“A CONTRACT for medals to commemorate the centennial of our national parks, which will be celebrated next year, has been signed with Roche Jaune, Inc., of Kalispell, Mont., it was announced by George B. Hartzog Jr., Director of the National Park Service.
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COINS:
According to Laurence W. Lane Jr. of Menlo Park, Calif., chairman of the Centennial Commission, the pact was negotiated with the National Park Foundation, which has been requested by the Commission to handle this phase of the Centennial activities. The celebrations are to begin on March 1, Yellowstone's 100th anniversary.
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The initial, or keystone, issue will be reserved for the National Park Service. This specimen, 2½ inches in diameter, will be for presentation purposes and Yellowstone will provide the motif for its basic design.
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Smaller medals for Yellowstone and our 35 other national parks will also be made available to the public. The entire series, which will be struck in both pure silver and bronze (in high relief) will be produced by the Medallic Art Company of New York. The original plans also authorize Roche Jaune to issue four other specimens based on the history and developmentor Yellowstone National Park, the first of its kind in the world.
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The Montana Company paid $50,000 on signing the contract and will pay the National Park Foundation a royalty of 10 per cent of the “approved sales prices to the public.”
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The designs to be used on the commemoratives and the prices to be charged must be approved by the Foundation, Mr. Hartzog said. The National Parks Centennial Commission was authorized by Congress to conduct the 1972 program. Congress also approved $250,000 of appropriated funds for the Centennial activities. This money Is to be made available after a minimum of $300,000 has been raised from private sources, Mr. Hartzog said.
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With the “recent” interest of Americans in ecology, and the great concern expressed over the destruction of the beauty of our nation's natural resources, the commemorative Medals are expected to play a major role in the Centennial fund campaign.“ — Credited Source: The New York Times; September 12, 1971, Section D, Page 37
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(Rocky Mountain National Park):
“Rocky Mountain National Park is an American national park located approximately 55 mi (89 km) northwest of Denver in north-central Colorado, within the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The park is situated between the towns of Estes Park to the east and Grand Lake to the west. The eastern and western slopes of the Continental Divide run directly through the center of the park with the headwaters of the Colorado River located in the park's northwestern region. The main features of the park include mountains, alpine lakes and a wide variety of wildlife within various climates and environments, from wooded forests to mountain tundra.
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The Rocky Mountain National Park Act was signed by President Woodrow Wilson on January 26, 1915, establishing the park boundaries and protecting the area for future generations.“ — Credited Source: "Rocky Mountain National Park Maps". nps.gov. National Park Service. n.d. Archived from the original on October 8, 2016.
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(Longs Peak):
“Longs Peak is a high and prominent mountain in the northern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The 14,259-foot (4346 m) fourteener is located in the Rocky Mountain National Park Wilderness, 9.6 miles (15.5 km) southwest by south (bearing 209°) of the Town of Estes Park, Colorado, United States. Longs Peak is the northernmost fourteener in the Rocky Mountains and the highest point in Boulder County and Rocky Mountain National Park. The mountain was named in honor of explorer Stephen Harriman Long and is featured on the Colorado state quarter.” — Credited Source: "Longs Peak". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
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(Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep):
“The bighorn sheep is a species of sheep native to North America. It is named for its large horns. A pair of horns might weigh up to 14 kg (30 lb); the sheep typically weigh up to 143 kg (315 lb).
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Bighorns from the Rocky Mountains are relatively large, with males that occasionally exceed 230 kg (500 lb) and females that exceed 90 kg (200 lb). The Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep occupy the cooler mountainous regions of Canada and the United States. In contrast, the desert bighorn sheep subspecies are indigenous to the hot desert ecosystems of the Southwestern United States and Mexico.“ — Credited Source: "Bighorn Sheep". Nature Guide. eNature.com. Archived from the original on 2004-11-09.