1974 Rare Gerald R. Ford Official Inaugural Medal 8-Piece Process Set

1974 Rare Gerald R. Ford Official Inaugural Medal 8-Piece Manufacturing Process Set. Seldom encountered presentation showing, step by step, the manufacture of Gerald R. Ford's official 1974 presidential inaugural medal—from an untouched metal blank to the completely struck and finished medal.

The individual pieces include BLANK, 1ST STRIKE, 2ND STRIKE, 3RD STRIKE, 4TH STRIKE, SANDBLAST, OXIDIZED and FINISHED. Viewed sequentially, the set allows the collector to watch Ford's portrait and the reverse design emerge through successive strikes before the medal receives its final surface treatments and finish.

The transformation is particularly dramatic. The first piece is nothing more than an unstruck planchet; successive strikes gradually bring up the portrait, lettering and fine details of the dies. The later examples demonstrate the finishing operations that give the completed bronze medal its characteristic depth, contrast and appearance.

All eight pieces are permanently presented in on a wood engraved plaque 

Ford's 1974 inaugural medal occupies an unusual place in presidential history. Unlike virtually every president represented in the traditional official inaugural medal series, Ford had no election victory or regularly scheduled presidential inauguration to commemorate. Following Richard Nixon's resignation, Ford took the presidential oath of office on August 9, 1974, becoming the only person to serve as both Vice President and President without having been elected to either office.

Process sets were never intended as ordinary souvenir issues. They are specialized presentations documenting the actual medal-making procedure, and they are encountered far less frequently than the finished inaugural medals themselves. Includes a silver plaque on the reverse that identifies the manufacturer as the Medallic Art Company. 

Original, of course, and from a unique collection of presidential inaugural medals we recently acquired including numerous different process medal sets.