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British Virgin Islands
2002 Teddy Bear Coin
The Teddy Bear is named after Theodore ‘Teddy’
Roosevelt, the famous hunting President of the United States but both the
United States and Germany claim to have made the first Teddy and in some
ways they are both correct. At the end of 1902 President Roosevelt was
visiting Mississippi to settle a border dispute and while hunting came
across a lost bear cub which had been orphaned and decided to spare the
young cub’s life. The event became the subject of a famous cartoon which
appeared in the Washington Post and inspired shop owners, Maurice and Rose
Michtom to make a toy bear and ask for permission to name it after the
President.
At the same time in Germany, Richard Steiff,
a toy designer, had been touring American circuses in search of an idea
for a new toy and had seen a troupe of performing bears. He presented his
ideas to his aunt Margarete Steiff who liked the idea of a toy bear which
was jointed and stood upright. A prototype was quickly made from scraps of
mohair cloth using sketches from zoos and this bear first appeared at the
1903 Spring Toy Fair at Leipzig.
The Teddy Bear has been a popular toy with
both young and old alike ever since and the recent craze for Beanie Babies
shows that there is no sign of this popularity abating. This wonderful
coin carries a beautiful portrait of a Teddy Bear and is available in
cupro-nickel, proof sterling silver and fine 999.9 Gold and the proof
versions have been struck four times to give the famous mirror-like
finish.
We recommend you call our jewelry department for
prices gold
bezels - which are ideal for mounting as
jewelry.
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