1973-P Bronze Medal D1973-1c, Marquette Explorations

Coin Details

Description

Swoger catalog number D1973-1c. This bronze medal was struck at the United States Mint in Philadelphia to commemorate the explorations of Father Jacques Marquette, the French Jesuit missionary and explorer who, along with Louis Jolliet, became one of the first Europeans to explore and map the upper Mississippi River in 1673. Marquette and Jolliet departed from St. Ignace, Michigan, on May 17, 1673, paddling down the Mississippi as far as the mouth of the Arkansas River before turning back to avoid Spanish territory. Marquette's detailed journals and maps of the voyage provided invaluable geographic and ethnographic information about the interior of North America. The tricentennial of Marquette's explorations in 1973 was widely commemorated, especially in the Great Lakes and Mississippi Valley regions. The Swoger catalog (D-series), compiled by Tom Swoger, documents modern U.S. Mint commemorative medals from 1956 onward.

Rarity Notes

Bronze composition Marquette explorations medal. Produced by the U.S. Mint for public sale. Exact mintage not separately reported.

Cross References

PCGS #76121; Swoger D1973-1c