This is my most recent acquisition. It is a bronze medal that was approved by the U.S. Congress and commissioned by the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce in 1973. If you hold it in your hand, it has a significant weight to it. They are fairly rare, and I am glad to finally add it to my collection.
The design by Virgil Cantini took an innovative approach. Both sides are convex (presaging the 2014 National Baseball Hall of Fame commemorative coins), with the obverse design elements appearing as an outline of a portrait of the player along with the stitched seam of a baseball. The reverse depicts a grouping of baseballs bursting from the surface as though they about to rise into the air. The U.S. Mint struck the sole gold medal and bronze duplicate medals. The Chamber of Commerce of Greater Pittsburgh presented the gold version to Clemente’s widow, Vera. The chamber sold to the public the 3-inch bronze and 1.3125-inch bronze versions, some of the medals with gold plating.
This is the Coca-Cola/McDonald's coin that commemorates the Pirates' centennial in 1987. There are several Pirates included in the set and I have several of those as well. These are larger than a quarter and fairly heavy. They are also more rare than you would think, considering they were originally distributed through McDonald's restaurants.
This is the silver version of a coin that was minted in Puerto Rico shortly after Clemente died. I believe they were originally made to be sold to help support Clemente's Sports City for underprivileged youth in Puerto Rico. This is the original version and supposedly the die was destroyed. Apparently there has been some oxidation or something eating at this coin and I need to clean it off. I will probably get a better holder as well.
This is the same coin as above, but a bronze variety. Supposedly these are counterfeit from the original die. They are still fairly rare, and usually do not come as good of quality as the one I have. It still looks very nice.
This is a silver art bar featuring Clemente. It is fairly small. It also is numbered, although I have no clue how many were actually made. It wouldn't surprise me if someone was out there still fabricating these. It is a great image and it is frozen in an ounce of nearly pure silver. I believe there are an innumerable amount of silver art bars with various images out there in the marketplace. I'm sure many are less fabulous than this one. It has a little bit of discoloration on the one end, but it isn't overly conspicuous and I think it can be cleaned. I just haven't tried to do that yet because I am afraid I will damage it.
This is a pressed penny with an image of Clemente in his 3000 hit image. There is also an image of a plane. There is a cross and his dates of birth and death. I am not big on the plane image, but I'm not sure what I would replace it with. There are also two numbers "21" and "32". The 21 is obviously his jersey number with the Pirates. I am not sure what the 32 signifies.
This is a very nice silver coin. From what I can tell, this coin looks like it was sold at the Baseball Hall of Fame. It is a limited edition and serial numbered. It features a portrait on the heads side and batting stance on the tails side. It also correctly identifies his induction year into the hall of fame in 1973.
This coin is similar to above in size. It is manufactured by the Highland Mint. It is also a limited edition and serial numbered. I believe this coin was made to help finance Clemente's statue. It has a great portrait and his signature on the heads side and the image of Clemente's 25th anniversary of his death of the tails side.
This coin was minted by the country of Liberia in 1994. It features his portrait on the heads side and the seal of Liberia on the tails side. The seal is very scenic with palm trees and a sailing ship. The coin is seemingly at least worth $1 in Liberia. I would hope it was worth much more than that though.
