Marcel Jovine

The medal's obverse bears Americans from colonial to modern times walking, riding, and driving around the circumference, with some airplanes mixed in for good measure. In raised circular center, the American Bicentennial logo surrounded by AMERICAN REVOLUTION BICENTENNIAL / 1776 - 1976; signed with artist's (JOV monogram) at top right; at lower right, MACO / © 1975

The reverse bears square calendar panel in center, flanked by the PHiladelphia Christ Church steeple on the left and a launching Saturn V rocket on the right; Eagle holding streamer with THE / BICENTENNIAL / YEAR in its beak on top, Paul Revere on horseback at the bottom; at left bottom of calendar panel, 1976.

The American Bicentennial was a huge marketing extravaganza that caused a multitude of medals to be issued.   Marcel Jovine created a thematically appropripate design in his inimitable circular style. 

This is one of the few Calendar medals that were issued in different sizes.  A limited edition 3.75" medallion was offered to collectors in addtion to the normal 3" medal.  I am not aware of any medals in silver though I would not be terribly surprised to find out that a few had been struck.  The 1970s were a time of sky-high silver prices and 3" silver medals would have represented a significant investment.

References:   MACo 1975-134, Cal MA-1976

References:   MACo 1976-171, Cal MA-1977

The medal's obverse bears 12 disks with the signs of the zodiac surrounding central disk with sun.

The reverse bears calendar surrounded by four scantily clad maidens, possibly nymphs, with cornucopia, sun, grapes, and tree.  At left bottom, 1978; signed at bottom right, (JOV monogram)

The circular medal measures 76.2mm in diameter and was struck in various metals by the Medallic Art Company of Danbury, Connecticut. No mintages are reported and I am only speculating that there was a silver variant.  The edition limit for the gold-plated bronze medals was 1,000.

References:   MACo 1977-107, Cal MA-1978

The medal's obverse bears compass rose dividing medal into four segments, each of which contains a different tall ship; waves around. Bottom left segment contains elaborate "Oceanus" and artists (JOV monogram) / © signature.

The reverse bears calendar panel surrounded by hippocamus, sea horses and sea shell. In sea shell, 1979

The ships depicted all have significance in American history. They are the Santa Maria, one of the ships that brought Columbus to the New World; the Mayflower, one of the ships which brought the first Pilgrims to America; the Constitution, the oldest active service navy ship in the world; and a Clipper ship, representative of the China trade fleet that generated so much wealth.

This is the fourth issue and in the Medallic Art Company's calendar medal series.

The circular medal measures 76.2mm in diameter and was struck in bronze, silver, and gold-plated bronze.  No mintages are reported.

The edition limits of the silver and gold-plated variants are also not known to me at this point but based on the fact that the medals are marked with three digit serial numbers I would judge it to be 700 or fewer.

References:   MACo 1978-075, Cal MA-1979

The medal's obverse bears legend only. Around, ROCKWELL SOCIETY OF AMERICA (star); across, 1980 / OFFICIAL / CORPORATE / SEAL

The reverse bears rectangular calendar panel with 1980 above.

This totally uninspired medal is a great example of a collectible medal that is not an art medal. The Rockwell Society issued calendar medals for many years and they only differ in the year and the calendar details.

Dick Johnson attributes this medal to Marcel Jovine. While I believe his research, that indicates to me that Marcel Jovine must either have been in desperate need of money or the Rockwell Society granted him no artistic freedom at all.

I only included this medal in my collection because it provides a great example of a "bread-and-butter" medal, both in general and in particular for calendar medals.

The circular medal measures 64.4mm in diameter and was struck in bronze. No mintage is reported.

The medal's obverse bears eight segments depicting scenes from different olympic winter sport events, surrounding center field with Lake Placid Olympics symbol and XIII OLYMPIC / WINTER / GAMES / LAKE / PLACID / 1980; signed at right, © (JOV monogram)

The reverse bears calendar panel flanked by two olympic torches. Pine cones and 1980 at top.

The circular medal measures approximately 76.1mm in diameter and was struck in various materials. No mintages are reported and I am speculating on the existence of a silver variant. The fourth variant bears both MACO and SPORRONG on the edge and weighs significantly more than the very similar third variant. Was is produced to spec for the Scandinavian Sporrong Mint or maybe in license by the Sporrong Mint? Any additional information would be appreciated.

References:   MACo 1979-080, Cal MA-1980

References:   MACo 1980-155, Cal MA-1981

The medal's obverse bears unicorn rampant, facing left. To its right, TO / THE / DREAMERS / OF / DREAMS; signed between tail loop, (JOV monogram)

The reverse bears clendar panel flanked by male figure with hound at left and female figure with sword at right; two snails below.  On banner at top, egi quod potui; above calendar panel, MCMLXXXII; below, 1982

The medal's obverse is identical to Jovine's Society of Medalists medal that was issued two years before. That medal had proved to be a hugely popular design and I guess the Medallic Art Company was looking for a way to extend the design's commercial usefulness.

This medal appeas to have been offered to corporate clients with customized edge lettering.  Please let me know what variants you encounter.

The circular medal measures 76.1mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company of Danbury, Connecticut. No mintage is reported.

References:   MACo 1981-054, Cal MA-1982

The medal's obverse bears two wheel spokes dividing the medal into four equal segments, each with a different iconic American automobile, including a Ford Model T and an Army Jeep.

The reverse bears calendar panel inscribed into frontal view of antique, crank-started car; 1983 in license plate; signed in hood label, JOV

The circular medal measures 76.2mm in diameter and was struck in various materials by the Medallic Art Company of Danbury, Connecticut. No mintages are rported and I am merely speculating that there was a variant struck in silver.

References:   MACo 1981-203, Cal MA-1983

The plaquette's obverse bears a moneyer producing a coin by striking a die with a hammer. Behind him, representations of rare medals from the ANS collection. Signed and dated at lower right, (JOV monogram / 83)

The reverse bears three panels, arranged vertically. In top panel, a screw press; in bottom panel, a Janvier pantographic lathe making a reduction of V. D. Brenner's Lincoln cent; in central panel at left, 1858; at right, 1983; in middle, THE AMERICAN / NUMISMATIC / SOCIETY / (oak leaf) / "parva ne pereant"

This medal was the 54th official issue of the American Numismatic Society in 1983.  It was chosen by an ad-hoc committee which selected from designs submitted by seven different sculptors. Marcel Jovine won the design competition (and a cash award of $3,500) but his original design was rejected by some Council members due to male nudity. 

Jovine submitted an alternative design that did not include the male nudity and that design was accepted, even though some members quibbled that the moneyer looked like he was going to hit himself rather than the die.

The plaquette was struck in bronze, silver and gold by Stefano Johnson of Italy. The mintage is reported as 2 pieces in gold, 100 in silver, and 500 in bronze.  Originally,only 2 gold pieces were produced but Frank Bass' gold piece was lost and so a third piece was struck.

References:   ANS 54