1988 Totem Pole AMC Silver Round

MintAmerican Medallion Corporation AMC (Houston TX)

IssuerAmerican Medallion Corporation AMC (Houston TX)

Standard heraldic eagle, wings spread, holding an olive branch and a bundle of three arrows/lightning bolts in its talons, shield over its breast, ribbon banner above its head. Legend reads "MADE IN U.S.A. · SILVER" arcing top/right, "1 TROY OUNCE" down the left, ".999 FINE" arcing along the bottom.

A stylized totem pole composed of five stacked carved masks with large ovoid eyes, topped by a bear or wolf-crest figure. "TOTEM POLE" arcs across the top, the "AMC" mint mark appears at right, and "1988" appears at the bottom.

1988 Totem Pole Overview

The 1988 Totem Pole by AMC is a 1 Troy Ounce .999 fine silver round manufactured by American Medallion Corporation (AMC) of Houston, Texas. The round is notable for a documented dual-obverse variety: AMC struck the Totem Pole reverse against two distinct house obverse dies — the “MADE IN U.S.A. / 1 TROY OUNCE … .999 FINE SILVER” eagle (this example) and the “GREAT SEAL OF THE UNITED STATES / IN GOD WE TRUST” eagle. Secondary-market sales data suggests the “Great Seal” pairing is the more commonly traded variant, making this “MADE IN U.S.A.” example the scarcer of the two.

Mint: American Medallion Corporation (AMC)
Year: 1988
Metal: Silver .999
Weight: 1 Troy Ounce
Diameter: 39.0mm

1988 Totem Pole Attribution

Mint: American Medallion Corporation (AMC)
Issuer: American Medallion Corporation (AMC), self-issued — no third-party issuer documented.
Distributor: Not documented

1988 Totem Pole Known Variety: Dual Obverse Pairing

This reverse is documented paired with two different AMC house obverse dies:

1. “MADE IN U.S.A.” obverse (this example) — same die used on the 1986 Bowie Knife round and the “For Someone Special” gift round.
2. “Great Seal of the United States” obverse — same die used across AMC’s undated Transports/Sailing Ships bullion line (catalogued on Numista as N#414712).

A survey of 12 sold listings on WorthPoint found the “Great Seal” pairing in 8 of 12 examples (~2:1) and the “MADE IN U.S.A.” pairing in the remaining 4, suggesting the latter is the scarcer variant. This ratio reflects observed secondary-market sales, not a confirmed mintage split.

The 1986 Bowie Knife round shows the identical dual-obverse pattern (both variants independently confirmed via WorthPoint sold listings). A broader survey of 100+ AMC rounds on WorthPoint found no comparable dual-obverse pairing on any other reverse checked, including Koala (1988), Papal Visit (1987), and Uncle Sam (ND) — all single-obverse across all examples found. This indicates the dual-obverse practice is specific to Totem Pole and Bowie Knife, not a general AMC manufacturing convention.

1988 Totem Pole Notes

⚠️ No mintage figures or original issue price have been located for this design. No designer/engraver credited. Distributor and issuer channel undocumented. The reason for the dual-obverse pairing (die-room reuse, reorder with updated die, or another production cause) has not been established — flagged here as an observed pattern, not an explained one.

1988 Totem Pole References

• American Medallion Corporation (AMC) mint entry — The Texas Stacker
• Numista N#414712 — “Great Seal” obverse variant, comparative reference
• WorthPoint sold listings (12-listing Totem Pole survey; 100+ listing broader AMC survey) — variety documentation
• Documented example examined by the author (this entry)

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