Press Release

Originally released 1996 NEW 1996 CALENDAR LOOKS FORWARD TO THE PAST Hoffman Mint Creates Calendar Medal - Tradition Dates Back Three Centuries Carmel, Calif. -- The new year brings new calendars. Found in all shapes and sizes, popular calendars showcase the latest heartthrobs, scenic landscapes of America's natural beauty and domestic pets in every imaginable situation. Hoffman Mint in Carmel, California, the company which struck President Bill Clinton's Inaugural Medal, found inspiration for their new calendar from history and from North America's endangered animals. Hoffman Mint recently introduced a 1996 bronze calendar medal that bares a three dimensional mountain lion, or cougar, on the front and a 1996 calendar on the reverse. The calendar medal is the first of a planned series of high relief, solid bronze medals featuring some of North America's threatened animals. The three-inch diameter, half-pound bronze medal is the brainchild of Michael Hoffman, president and CEO of Hoffman Mint. "We've wanted to recognize the nation's majestic animals in our artwork for a long time, and we thought a calendar medal would be a natural – the calendar is useful and the image of the cougar will remind people throughout the year of the plight of this magnificent animal," states Hoffman. Hoffman's creation was inspired by a time when calendars where regularly minted on coins. In 1752, when British citizens and American colonials were in an uproar about the confusion between the old Julian calendar system and the newly implemented Gregorian calendar, John Powell of Birmingham, England, created calendar medals to help average citizens determine the correct date. Powell's calendar is the first recorded calendar issuance of its kind, but similar pieces date back to as early as 1684. Calendar medals used to be the size of silver dollars and were popular between 1752 and 1860. In the later half of the nineteenth century, paper calendars became easier and less expensive to produce and eventually replaced the calendar medal. The calendar medal concept was later revived as a medium to display medallic art in the early 1930's. The 1996 cougar calendar medal is the result of a collaboration sculptors, engravers and artisans. From the artist's sculpture rendered in clay to the engraved dies, minting is an intricately involved process according to Hoffman. Each medal is individually edge-marked with the official hallmark of Hoffman Mint and a serial number. Hoffman Mint will strike only 5,000 medals to enhance its collectibility. After the 5,000 pieces have been made, the dies will be defaced and permanently retired. The medal comes in a presentation box, complete with a solid walnut stand, all for only $29.95. Volume discounts are also available. Hoffman Mint, a division of Hoffman & Hoffman of Carmel, CA, is a privately owned firm that has been striking customized medals, tokens, coins and key tags for use in promotions and commemorative occasions since 1980. The company recently struck Lion King coins for the Walt Disney Company and in 1993, received the prestigious commission to strike the official Presidential Inaugural Medal. President Clinton personally selected Hoffman Mint's medal design from among those of four competing mints. For more information, or to order the limited edition 1996 cougar calendar medal, contact Hoffman Mint.