Coin Dealer Opinion on The Franklin Mint
Scott Semans writes:

Franklin Mint's Initial Public Offering

I read with deep interest the laudatory obituary of the late Joe Segel. Whole books could be written on the meteoric rise and ultimate fall of General Numismatics Corp., (GNC)later known as the Franklin Mint and vigorous controversy would necessarily be a part of such a complete history. One factual correction is needed, however. GNC stock was firstlisted not on the New York Stock Exchange, but on the little known National Stock Exchange, then a distant number three in the roster of American securities exchanges. I know ofthis because my late brother, John L. Alexander (1938-1987) was instrumental in arranging the floating of the first stock through the securities firm of Hill, Darlington andGrimm, who were then very active in Promoting new stock issues.

Segel's first major product was gaming tokens for casinos in Nevada and elsewhere who were seriously impacted by the disappearance of silver dollars from the banks. Basemetal tokens to take their place brought Segel a total of $272,000 in the first year of reporting. John and I spent several days scrounging up examples of these tokens for Hill,Darlington and Grimm executives to examine. There was later a finely designed Franklin Mint token celebrating the new stock listing. Money realized from this first stock issue wasused to assure Segel of a reasonably priced silver bullion supply just before the precious metals boom that was soon raging.

The GNC name was soon retired and the Franklin Mint under later management was enveloped in controversy - remember Morley Safer and "Sixty Minutes..." The company wasnever a strictly numismatic phenomenon but a spectacular example of the success of American advertising and promotion. At the beginning many numismatic "names" wereassociated with the firm, none as closely as the late one-time ANA president Virginia Culver and numismatic writer-editor Russ Rulau. Virginia's name graced the catalogue ofFranklin Mint material once published by Krause; Rulau never ceased to defend the Franklin Mint through his defense of Virginia...

So much more could be written.

Franklin Mint Casino Tokens

I saw the obituary of Joseph Segel. Though I never met the man, I've read a lot about him with respect to his numismatic enterprises. One of these was acustom-printed Whitman blue folder to house Franklin Mint's output of casino tokens dated 1965.

When casino customers began taking home their silver dollars instead of cashing them in before leaving, the coins soon disappeared from gambling tables and slot machines.Casino owners commissioned nickel-alloy tokens of dollar size to replace them. These served their purpose well, but they also became collectibles to some degree. In 1965 Segelcontracted with a consortium of Nevada casinos to produce their tokens, and he also sought to market them directly to collectors.

His folder for the 1965 tokens is shown in the attached photos. The following year he dropped Whitman in favor of Dansco, which produced two actual albums with clear slides forthe 1966 series. I have these albums, too, but I haven't gotten around to taking images. This awaits completion of Volume Three in my series of books about album/folderpublishers, which covers Whitman products. Volume Four will be a treatment of Dansco's various lines.

Dave adds:

To read the complete articles, see:
Joseph Segel Made QVC a Hit, With Help From a Dancing Gorilla(https://www.wsj.com/articles/joseph-segel-made-qvc-a-hit-with-help-from-a-dancing-gorilla-11577383496)
Franklin Mint, QVC Founder Joseph M. Segel: In Memoriam(https://coinweek.com/people-in-the-news/franklin-mint-qvc-founder-joseph-m-segel-in-memoriam/)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
JOSEPH M. SEGEL (1931-2019) (https://www.coinbooks.org/v22/esylum_v22n52a03.html)