Founder of Franklin Mint, Joseph Segel, dead 0

[RWB]

Older collectors will be interested to know the Joseph Segel, founder of the Franklin Mint, QVC TV shopping netwoek, and other businesses died at age 88. His obituary from the New York Times is linked below.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/25/business/joseph-segel-dead.html

Edited December 28, 2019 by RWB

[7.jaguars]

Quite the businessman! May he RIP.

Well, I love the currency coin issues of the Franklin Mint, not so crazy about marketing or their other ventures.

[thebeav]

After a lifetime of buying/selling, I know I made some good bucks from FM material.

Thanks Joe !     RIP......

[Just Bob]

Although the Franklin Mint and their products were often much maligned by some in the coin community, I always though that they had turned out some really nice pieces, like the Discovery of America and History of the United States sets.

[Crawtomatic]

8 minutes ago, Just Bob said:

Although the Franklin Mint and their products were often much maligned by some in the coin community, I always though that they had turned out some really nice pieces, like the Discovery of America and History of the United States sets.

I especially like the Bahamas coinage they did.

[DWLange]

As a collector of coin boards, folders and albums, my favorite Franklin Mint item is this one.

[DWLange]

As a collector of coin boards, folders and albums, my favorite Franklin Mint item is this one.

[RWB]

That's twice as nice !

Did FM market the tokens to collectors - at least for a few years?

[Yarm]

[DWLange]

Did FM market the tokens to collectors - at least for a few years?

It did, but only in the year of issue. There was another round of 1966 casino tokens from the FM, and it sold those in albums made by Dansco. I have the albums, but not the tokens.

After 1967 the tokens weren't dated, and I know of no folders or albums for the later issues. The arrival of the Ike Dollar late in 1971 eliminated the need for additional tokens for the next 15 years or so.

[Walkerfan]

I liked some of the Franklin Mint products.  

RIP, Joe.  

Condolences to the family.  

[thebeav]

Their stuff was always beautiful. They were first class in quality. 

It was just difficult to maintain a 'secondary' market interest. It was kind of like, anyone that had interest in any particular issue, purchased that issue.

Then, when they decided to sell, there were few takers as a collectible. Of course, intrinsic value was always there. People didn't have an internet to help with promotion or resell. 

Once upon a time, Deak-Perera made a two-way market in FM issues. That was interesting for a while, and gave both buyers and sellers an avenue. They ran into money laundering trouble before their collapse and that was the end of that......

[RWB]

RE: " It was just difficult to maintain a 'secondary' market interest. It was kind of like, anyone that had interest in any particular issue, purchased that issue. Then, when they decided to sell, there were few takers as a collectible. Of course, intrinsic value was always there."

Sounds just like modern NCLT, special US Mint issues and goofy label roulette to me.

[cladking]

On 12/30/2019 at 1:49 PM, Just Bob said:

Although the Franklin Mint and their products were often much maligned by some in the coin community, I always though that they had turned out some really nice pieces, like the Discovery of America and History of the United States sets.

This was always my favorite among tokens and medals as well.   For artistic merit some of the art bars were spectacular.

My favorite FM though are the coins.  Many of these were made in tiny numbers and are simply superb quality that are sure to be winners in the long run.  A few are already getting pricey.

 

[RWB]

Compare the FM bicentennial medal set with the US Mint's state quarters. It's no contest for design quality. Why?

[tokenpro1]

Joe Segel and the Franklin Mint were extremely supportive of the Token And Medal Society including donations of stock to put the organization on a firm financial footing so TAMS down the road could finance the production of the many catalogs that they have produced (among other projects). RIP Joe.

[cladking]

On 1/16/2020 at 1:14 PM, RWB said:

Compare the FM bicentennial medal set with the US Mint's state quarters. It's no contest for design quality. Why?

I think it's mostly because FM designs weren't selected by committee (or Congress).   

It's also because so much verbiage is mandated on US coins.