1987 Wimpy AMC Cartoon Celebrities Silver Round

MintAmerican Medallion Corporation AMC (Houston TX)

IssuerRobert E. Westfall Inc

DistributorRobert E. Westfall Inc

CollectionAMC Cartoon Celebrities Series

The obverse depicts J. Wellington Wimpy, the hamburger-loving character from the Popeye comic strip, rendered in high relief with his signature bowler hat, bow tie, and outstretched arm gesturing mid-conversation, with motion lines behind his head suggesting speech. The character's name, "WIMPY," arcs along the left edge of the field with a registered trademark symbol. A copyright notice, "©1987 KFS," appears at the lower left of the design — a struck reference to King Features Syndicate, the syndicate that has held publication rights to the Popeye strip since its 1929 debut.

The reverse carries the standard Cartoon Celebrities Series design common to the line: "CARTOON CELEBRITIES" arcs across the top of the field above a layered, orbital-ring device at center. Beneath the device, the legend reads "MADE IN USA BY AMC," followed by "ONE TROY OZ .999 FINE SILVER" arcing along the lower rim.

1987 Wimpy AMC Cartoon Celebrities Silver Round Overview

The 1987 Wimpy AMC Cartoon Celebrities Silver Round is part of the Cartoon Celebrities Series, a line of officially licensed one-troy-ounce silver rounds produced by American Medallion Corporation (AMC) of Houston, Texas, and distributed by Robert E. Westfall Inc. of Los Angeles, California. The series licensed characters from several intellectual property holders — including DC Comics, Archie Comic Publications, King Features Syndicate, and Tribune Media Services — and issued each character on a common reverse design bearing the AMC house mark, with obverses individually engraved for each licensed property.

Wimpy is drawn from the Popeye comic strip (originally Thimble Theatre), created by E.C. Segar and published under King Features Syndicate. The character is best known for his perpetual hunger for hamburgers and his catchphrase promising payment “Tuesday for a hamburger today.” His inclusion in the Cartoon Celebrities Series places this round alongside other King Features Syndicate properties documented on this site, including the 1987 Mr. & Mrs. Dithers AMC Cartoon Celebrities Silver Round, drawn from the Blondie strip under the same syndicate.

American Medallion Corporation was incorporated on August 7, 1986, initially operating under the Texas International Mint (TIM) name before formally adopting the American Medallion Corporation identity on May 18, 1987. Robert E. Westfall served as CEO of AMC while his separate company, Robert E. Westfall Inc., handled licensing, marketing, and distribution for the Cartoon Celebrities and Mythological Legends lines. Both companies operated out of Houston and Los Angeles, respectively, and AMC’s documented production appears to end around 1989.

1987 Wimpy AMC Cartoon Celebrities Silver Round Attribution

Unlike several other AMC-attributed issues catalogued on this site — such as the undated pieces in the AMC Mythological Legends Series, where a production year must be inferred from AMC’s documented operating history — the Wimpy round carries a struck copyright notice, “©1987 KFS,” directly on the obverse. This places the design’s copyright date in 1987 on the coin itself, giving this issue firmer dating grounds than the undated Mythological Legends pieces, though the copyright date reflects when the character artwork was licensed and copyrighted rather than necessarily the exact date the round was struck and sold. The “MADE IN USA BY AMC” legend on the reverse is treated as this coin’s Mint Mark under this site’s cataloguing standard, consistent with other AMC issues carrying a spelled-out manufacturer legend in place of a discrete mint-mark device.

1987 Wimpy AMC Cartoon Celebrities Silver Round Notes

• The reverse design, legends, and fineness are shared across the entire Cartoon Celebrities Series; only the obverse character artwork and copyright notice change from issue to issue.
• Mintage figures for individual characters in the series are not documented from a period-accurate primary source; a frequently repeated secondary claim of 50 pieces struck per character has not been traced to original AMC or Westfall sales literature and is not used as a cataloguing figure on this site.
• The “©1987 KFS” notice identifies King Features Syndicate, the rights holder for the Popeye strip and its characters, consistent with the licensing structure described for this series.

1987 Wimpy AMC Cartoon Celebrities Silver Round References

• MK Coins. “1 oz. Round – Wimpy – A.M.C. – Cartoon Celebrities – Fine Silver.”
• The Phantom Fan Site. “Cartoon Celebrities – The Phantom.”
• WorthPoint. “Cartoon Celebrity Series 36 Silver Coins DC Archie.”
• Documented example examined (this entry).
• Texas Stacker Archives.

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