Philly Mint Visit

Got the chance to do the ole tour today. It was interesting. Love
Philly, as there is so
much history and things to do. The rain kind of put a damper on things
though. I wish the gift shop had more interesting coins. They did have
a couple of small sets of barber coins that were pretty steap for the
poor quality and cheap presentation holder. I did get a silver proof
set for my daughter to be next month. Also, picked up a brass Abe
Lincon medal (I guess they are peace medals). Its about 3" in diameter
and they throw in the $8 presentation box for free. I wanted the Ben
Franklin Medal, but they said they were out of them. That surprised me
a little as they manufacture them on the other side of the wall. Im
pretty sure it will never be worth more than the $38 I paid, at least
in this century. However, the quality is good and does look nice in its
presentation box. Someone told me the Franklin mint closed. Never had
the chance to look into it. Had anyone here ever been?

Seeker.

seeker wrote:
Got the chance to do the ole tour today. It was interesting. Love
Philly, as there is so
much history and things to do. The rain kind of put a damper on things
though. I wish the gift shop had more interesting coins. They did have
a couple of small sets of barber coins that were pretty steap for the
poor quality and cheap presentation holder. I did get a silver proof
set for my daughter to be next month. Also, picked up a brass Abe
Lincon medal (I guess they are peace medals). Its about 3" in diameter
and they throw in the $8 presentation box for free. I wanted the Ben
Franklin Medal, but they said they were out of them. That surprised me
a little as they manufacture them on the other side of the wall. Im
pretty sure it will never be worth more than the $38 I paid, at least
in this century. However, the quality is good and does look nice in its
presentation box. Someone told me the Franklin mint closed. Never had
the chance to look into it. Had anyone here ever been?

Seeker.

Did a quick search on the net and I guess the Franklin Mint doesnt make
coins or medals any more. I quess if I wanted a model airplane or car
that would be the place to go for an expensive one! I had asked the
cashier at the Philly mint about the Franklin Mint and I thought he
said they were in Phil. but had closed down. I dont think they were
ever in Phil. and I think they are still in business. oh well.

seeker wrote:
seeker wrote:

Got the chance to do the ole tour today. It was interesting. Love
Philly, as there is so
much history and things to do. The rain kind of put a damper on things
though. I wish the gift shop had more interesting coins. They did have
a couple of small sets of barber coins that were pretty steap for the
poor quality and cheap presentation holder. I did get a silver proof
set for my daughter to be next month. Also, picked up a brass Abe
Lincon medal (I guess they are peace medals). Its about 3" in diameter
and they throw in the $8 presentation box for free. I wanted the Ben
Franklin Medal, but they said they were out of them. That surprised me
a little as they manufacture them on the other side of the wall. Im
pretty sure it will never be worth more than the $38 I paid, at least
in this century. However, the quality is good and does look nice in its
presentation box. Someone told me the Franklin mint closed. Never had
the chance to look into it. Had anyone here ever been?

Seeker.


Did a quick search on the net and I guess the Franklin Mint doesnt make
coins or medals any more. I quess if I wanted a model airplane or car
that would be the place to go for an expensive one! I had asked the
cashier at the Philly mint about the Franklin Mint and I thought he
said they were in Phil. but had closed down. I dont think they were
ever in Phil. and I think they are still in business. oh well.

I rememeber that they closed quite suddenly a few years ago, so suddenly that
on-site customers were ordered to leave their merchandise selections where
they were, were escorted out of the store and the locks changed right behind them.

--
___________________________________________ ____ _______________
Regards, | |\ ____
| | | | |\
Michael G. Koerner May they | | | | | | rise again!
Appleton, Wisconsin USA | | | | | |
___________________________________________ | | | | | | _______________

seeker wrote:

Did a quick search on the net and I guess the Franklin Mint doesnt make
coins or medals any more.

Seems so. Here is an apparently somewhat biased :-) article about the
history of the company ...
http://everything2.com/index.pl?node=Franklin%20Mint

Christian

The Franklin Mint is definitely closed. We bought the last coining
press and support equipment available out of there about 2 years or so
ago.

Sean Moffatt
Operations Manager
Hoffman Mint, Inc.

seeker wrote:
seeker wrote:
Got the chance to do the ole tour today. It was interesting. Love
Philly, as there is so
much history and things to do. The rain kind of put a damper on things
though. I wish the gift shop had more interesting coins. They did have
a couple of small sets of barber coins that were pretty steap for the
poor quality and cheap presentation holder. I did get a silver proof
set for my daughter to be next month. Also, picked up a brass Abe
Lincon medal (I guess they are peace medals). Its about 3" in diameter
and they throw in the $8 presentation box for free. I wanted the Ben
Franklin Medal, but they said they were out of them. That surprised me
a little as they manufacture them on the other side of the wall. Im
pretty sure it will never be worth more than the $38 I paid, at least
in this century. However, the quality is good and does look nice in its
presentation box. Someone told me the Franklin mint closed. Never had
the chance to look into it. Had anyone here ever been?

Seeker.

Did a quick search on the net and I guess the Franklin Mint doesnt make
coins or medals any more. I quess if I wanted a model airplane or car
that would be the place to go for an expensive one! I had asked the
cashier at the Philly mint about the Franklin Mint and I thought he
said they were in Phil. but had closed down. I dont think they were
ever in Phil. and I think they are still in business. oh well.

I've passed something called the Franklin Mint Museum near Media, PA,
which is in southwest Philadelphia, on Highway 1. I've been told that
it contains lots of toys, weapon reproductions and miniature autos and
motorcycles along with some famous original artworks and paintings.
That leads me to assume that it is assocciated with "The Franklin Mint"
being discussed here. The Franklin Mint mailing address is listed as
Aston, PA, which is just a few miles south of the museum.

wrote in message
oups.com...
The Franklin Mint is definitely closed. We bought the last coining
press and support equipment available out of there about 2 years or so
ago.

Sean Moffatt
Operations Manager
Hoffman Mint, Inc.

They are not making coins or medals anymore, this is true. But, they're
still open and doing business.
http://www.franklinmint.com

Jonathan_ATC

Franklin Mint was once a high profile creative powerhouse with some of
the finest creative talent under one roof...from copyrighters...to
designers and photographers. Inept management ran it into the ground
to where it is now a shell of its former self with only 50 workers down
from 5,000. However oddly it was bought by Morgan Mint...a lower end
colored coin marketing company that paled in comparison to the former
Franklin Mint. On a good note they hired some good talent and kept
some FM long timers. They will continue to develop diecast cars and
perhaps add some coin programs back into the mix.
It has to be better than the most recent management that let the
company limp alone.

I also purchases some minting equipment from FM in 2002 when they
auctioned off the machinery. Just for a souveneir.

Jonathan_ATC wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...
The Franklin Mint is definitely closed. We bought the last coining
press and support equipment available out of there about 2 years or so
ago.

Sean Moffatt
Operations Manager
Hoffman Mint, Inc.

They are not making coins or medals anymore, this is true. But, they're
still open and doing business.
http://www.franklinmint.com

Jonathan_ATC

In the early 80's FM slimmed down its minting facility to about 30
people, 8 or 9 presses and the blanking equipment. I toured in 1994
and saw the two silver smelting machines in operation. Their medallic
busines picked up greatly in the late 90s with some strong leadership
in the coin/medal business. I visited often until the end of minting
in 2002. FM had some great people in the minting dept. But upper
management was short sighted and killed the custom minting business FM
had begun to build. Then the company continued to fall. They felt
that if they closed minting they could focus on the high margin made in
China stuff...which actually was quite nice. Some of FM's painted
pewter items are stunning. But the same short sighted management
ruined all the product lines eventually.


seeker wrote:
seeker wrote:
Got the chance to do the ole tour today. It was interesting. Love
Philly, as there is so
much history and things to do. The rain kind of put a damper on things
though. I wish the gift shop had more interesting coins. They did have
a couple of small sets of barber coins that were pretty steap for the
poor quality and cheap presentation holder. I did get a silver proof
set for my daughter to be next month. Also, picked up a brass Abe
Lincon medal (I guess they are peace medals). Its about 3" in diameter
and they throw in the $8 presentation box for free. I wanted the Ben
Franklin Medal, but they said they were out of them. That surprised me
a little as they manufacture them on the other side of the wall. Im
pretty sure it will never be worth more than the $38 I paid, at least
in this century. However, the quality is good and does look nice in its
presentation box. Someone told me the Franklin mint closed. Never had
the chance to look into it. Had anyone here ever been?

Seeker.

Did a quick search on the net and I guess the Franklin Mint doesnt make
coins or medals any more. I quess if I wanted a model airplane or car
that would be the place to go for an expensive one! I had asked the
cashier at the Philly mint about the Franklin Mint and I thought he
said they were in Phil. but had closed down. I dont think they were
ever in Phil. and I think they are still in business. oh well.

Clearly written by someone who did not have their facts straight. Some
truth, some made up info. Lots of details omitted.


Christian Feldhaus wrote:
seeker wrote:

Did a quick search on the net and I guess the Franklin Mint doesnt make
coins or medals any more.

Seems so. Here is an apparently somewhat biased :-) article about the
history of the company ...
http://everything2.com/index.pl?node=Franklin%20Mint

Christian