Week 6

The tradition of the Inaugural Committee with the consent of the newly elected president to issue an official inaugural medal began in 1901 with the second inauguration of William McKinley. Mintages were quite low for the medals prior to the 1949 inauguration of Harry S. Truman making them much more difficult and expensive to obtain. The popularity of the inaugural medal increased dramatically in 1961 with the inauguration of John F. Kennedy and mintage figures have been increasing ever since. Two vice-presidents have also been honored with medals issued for their swearing-in ceremonies - Gerald Ford in 1973 and Nelson Rockefeller in 1974