Kit Carson (Correction) "Medal"

[Idaho PRB]

Kit Carson (Correction) "Medal"

Hi everyone. I found this medal at a 1950's house the other day. Was wondering if any of you know anything about it or have ever seen one before? There is an inscription at the lower left of the face of the token that reads "FM" with the copyright insignia before the letters "FM". Thanks in advance!
Idaho PRB
PS Found this pic on Ebay (The shiny one) thought it might get you a better look.......no info though on the listing about the medal itself.

 

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[idahotokens]

Re: Kit Carson Token

FM stands for the Franklin Mint, www.franklinmint.com , a Franklin Center, PA company that now makes a lot of different "collectibles". They started out in 1965 and avertised themselves to be "the world's largest and foremost private mint", their total business being in coins, tokens, and medals. Much of their early production was in series, for instance the Presidential Series, the States of the Union Series, an early automobile series, etc. These medals were sold by subscription, either directly via ads in magazines, or to another company. An example of this was the Sun Oil Company Landmarks of America Series. The oil company gave these medals with the purchase of gasoline as a way of building their trade. There was probably some sort of holder for these medals and serious purchasers tried to get all of the ones in the series. The occasional customers gave the medal to their kids who promptly lost them for us to find years later

The Franklin Mint's 1970 publication, "Numismatic Issues of the Franklin Mint, 1965-1969 does not list this Kit Carson piece, so it was probably made in 1970 or later. I do not have any more recent catalogs of the Franklin Mint issues, but I think they continued the practice of cataloging their products every 5 years.

John in Idaho