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May 07 2024

Newman Portal Search Hints

Newman Portal searches from the home page are exact text only. If you enter multiple words, it will search for that entire phrase.

If you wish to search for multiple terms all one page, but not in exact order, use the search form at https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/powersearchform. For example, if you wish to locate pages containing the words "Washington," "medal," "birth," and "centennial," enter the search:

ItemContent:Washington AND ItemContent:medal AND ItemContent:birth AND ItemContent:centennial

You can also use Google to search the Newman Portal site. From Google, enter, for example:

"washington medals" site:nnp.wustl.edu

Finally, you can search the Newman Portal document repository directly (https://archive.org/details/newmannumismatic), which, in some cases, will deliver additional results. On this page, check the box "Select text contents" before searching.

For additional assistance, please email us at NNPCurator@wustl.edu.

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Jul 01 2025

Is There An American Medal Depicting Fireworks?

The tradition of displaying fireworks on Independence Day, July 4th, in the United States, is a long-standing one, dating back to the very first organized celebrations of the holiday in 1777. Founding Father John Adams foresaw such commemorations from the very beginning, writing to his wife Abigail on July 3, 1776 “I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”


All this made us wonder if there is an American medal depicting fireworks. Newman Portal does not reveal such an example, through ironically our neighbors to the north placed a fireworks privy mark on the 1999-2000 Canadian Maple Leaf gold coins. The pieces were given a double date, with the privy mark denoting the new millennium. 


The only other relevant mention we found was a 1712 Charles VI medal, from Nurnberg, whch depicts a fireworks display in honor of Charles VI on January 16, 1712. This example is ex. Newman III (Heritage Auctions, January 2014), lot 30555, where it realized $4,700.

Link to “fireworks” search results on Newman Portal: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/searchwithterms?searchterm=fireworks

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Jun 28 2025

Can You Find a Franklin Mint Medal?

This week the West Baton Rouge Museum in Port Allen, LA contacted us in search of a medal by the Louisiana sculptor Angela Gregory. Dick Johnson’s Databank lists 14 medals for Gregory (1903-1990), including the 1972 ANA convention medal. The museum is currently developing an exhibit that will feature Gregory’s work.


The elusive piece is Gregory’s 1965 Civil War Centennial medal, engraved for Franklin Mint’s National Commemorative Society series. This medal is no. 13 in the series, and an example resides in the American Numismatic Society (1965.338.1). Franklin Mint records indicate a production of three pieces in platinum and 5,249 examples in silver. No doubt many of these were melted in the 1970s as silver prices spiked toward the end of the decade. Can NNP Blog readers locate an example for sale?


Link to Angela Gregory entry in the Dick Johnson Databank: https://archive.org/details/johnsondatabankGtoI/page/n147/mode/2up?view=theater
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