Complete Four-Piece Set of 1981 Gold Standard Corporation Prototype Medals. Gold. Deep Cameo Proof. Included are: John F. Kennedy, 35 mm, 1 troy ounce; Abraham Lincoln, 32 mm, 1 ounce; Thomas Jefferson, 29 mm, 10 grams; and Adam Smith, 16 mm, 5 grams. Housed in the original blue Capital Plastics case, on which is printed UNITED STATES / PROTOTYPE GOLD COIN PROOF SET / FREE MARKET GOLD COINAGE ACT / GOLD STANDARD CORPORATION. The Gold Standard Corporation was founded in Kansas City, Missouri, circa 1977 by Conrad J. Braun, who purchased gold from the United States Treasury in 1980 for minting into "coins" for sale to the public. The medal set offered here was another, related venture of Brauns that, according to research by collector Pat McAuliffe, was an attempt to create a series of gold bullion pieces that would be adopted for U.S. coinage. Among other things, McAuliffe points to the use of the word LIBERTY and the mottos IN GOD WE TRUST and E PLURIBUS UNUM in the medals designs as proof of Brauns intent with these pieces. A prototype silver set is also reported, dated 1982. In all of his attempts Braun was apparently seeking to produce an alternate form of precious metal currency for public use. A decline in gold and silver prices during the later 1980s contributed to the eventual demise of the Gold Standard Corporation. Its surviving products, as here, are rare, this being our first offering for one of these four-piece gold prototype sets since 2014. (Total: 4 medals)
