The Princess & the Frog

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For 65 years, the Society of Medalists brought the work of America’s finest sculptors to collectors at an accessible price. Founded in 1929 by Clyde Curlee Trees, owner of the Medallic Art Company (MACO), and philanthropist George Dupont Pratt, the society commissioned two medals per year from a remarkable roster of artists: Laura Gardin Fraser, Paul Manship, Lee Lawrie, John Flanagan, Anthony de Francisci, and dozens more. The series produced 129 regular issues and a handful of special editions before coming to an end in 1995, a casualty of rising production costs and the Medallic Art Company’s changing fortunes. At least, that is where the published record ends. It now appears that a 130th issue was produced—and its story has only recently come to light.

An Attempted Reboot

Over the decades, MACO changed hands several times, ultimately landing with Robert and Connie Hoff. In 2009, the Hoffs sold the business to Northwest Territorial Mint, a private mint based in the Pacific Northwest. The firm struggled under Northwest Territorial’s owner, Ross Hansen, who was later indicted on 20 federal fraud charges for running a Ponzi-like scheme that defrauded over 2,500 customers of more than $25 million—and had allegedly used customer funds to finance the MACO acquisition itself. The company declared bankruptcy in 2016, and the protracted proceedings split MACO’s assets. In 2018 the American Numismatic Society (ANS) acquired MACO’s historic archive of art medals, dies, die shells, plaster casts, galvanos, and photographic records for $420,000. Separately, Medalcraft Mint of Green Bay, Wisconsin, purchased MACO’s tradename, customer lists, tools, specific machinery, and certain company-owned dies.

At some point after Medalcraft acquired the MACO tradename and assets, an internal effort championed by a longtime MACO employee began to revive the Society of Medalists series under the Medalcraft banner. The project got far enough that original sculptures were commissioned, dies were cut, and medals were struck and edge-marked as the society’s 130th issue. But Medalcraft’s ownership halted the project shortly after production began, and the revival never reached the public.

The Medal

The artist chosen for this would-be 130th issue was Steve Adams, a professional die engraver and sculptor based in Pennsylvania who has worked in the medallic industry since the early 1980s. His career has encompassed steel die engraving, hub production, and sculptural modeling—the kind of hands-on fabrication work that connects directly to the tradition the Society of Medalists was founded to celebrate.  

Adams’s design takes its theme from The Princess and the Frog fairy tale. The obverse depicts a princess in ornate medieval dress, kneeling at the edge of a pond beneath a large, gnarled tree. She reaches toward a frog perched on a rock among lily pads. The composition is rich with botanical detail—flowering plants, trailing vines, and foliage frame the scene. A keyhole-shaped opening is cut through the center of the medal in the trunk of the tree.

The reverse shows the story’s resolution: a prince and princess in flowing robes, holding hands and walking toward a fairy-tale castle. Ivy and flowering plants border the scene. The same keyhole opening pierces the medal’s center, this time framed by the castle’s open gate, as if the viewer is looking through the entrance the couple is approaching.

The medal is 75mm in diameter, struck in bronze with a warm brown patina. One edge bears the inscription 2018 MEDALCRAFT MINT – GREEN BAY, WI – BRONZE, and the other reads THE SOCIETY OF MEDALISTS 130TH ISSUE 2018 STEVE ADAMS SC—formally designating it as the next entry in the series. According to Adams, perhaps a dozen medals were struck before the project was canceled.

A Collector’s Discovery

My connection to this medal was initially unrelated to the Society of Medalists. I collect modern hobo nickels and am completing a reference book, Modern Hobo Nickels: A Catalog of the Most Important Artists in the Field. Adams is among the artists I interviewed for the book. In addition to his medallic career, he is an accomplished hobo-nickel artist who applies his die-engraving skills to coin carving, working in unusually deep relief. When Adams began clearing out his workshop and storage in early 2025, he offered me the original plaster sculpture of the obverse design and sold me a first-strike proof of the medal to go along with it.

It was only after acquiring these pieces and learning their backstory that I visited the ANS headquarters in New York City for an unrelated tour. Walking past their small exhibition case, something caught my eye. On display was a variant of the Adams medal, identical but without the keyhole opening and with a different finish. I had never seen another example, and the ANS staff were not aware of its connection to an attempted Society of Medalists revival. It had arrived as part of the large MACO archive acquisition, and the ANS placed it on display for its appealing design. The incredible coincidence that led me to this obscure item (twice!) inspired me to write this article.

Whether the Adams medal should be formally designated as the 130th issue of the Society of Medalists is a question for the medallic art community to consider. The medals were produced by the entity that had acquired the society’s tradename and assets, they bear the official series designation on their edge, and they were created by a professional die engraver working in the tradition the society was founded to promote. The project was simply canceled for business reasons. With only an estimated dozen examples struck, the Adams medal is among the rarest items associated with the Society of Medalists. For collectors who have pursued the series across its six-decade run, this previously undocumented entry adds a surprising final chapter.

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