North Strabane man commemorates pope’s U.S. visit
Tom Uram of North Strabane designed a medal to commemorate Pope Francis’ visit to the United States later this month. The three-inch bronze medal that comes in a custom wood box costs $99.95 and can be purchased locally at Malone’s Flower Shop in Canonsburg or online at pancoins.org.
Tom Uram of North Strabane designed a medal to commemorate Pope Francis’ visit to the United States later this month. The bifold was made in Pittsburgh and features a smaller medal that commemorates the Pope’s future visit to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
Pope Francis’ first official visit to the United States will include the first canonization on American soil, and a Washington County resident designed and put in motion the manufacture of a medal that will be sold to benefit the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., and the Pennsylvania Association of Numismatists.
An impending papal visit was merely a rumor many months ago when Jim Uram, knowing his brother designed a medal for the City of Washington bicentennial, urged him to come up with something should the pope appear.
Tom Uram, who volunteered for Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Pittsburgh and was board president when Donald Wuerl was bishop here, met with the now-Cardinal and archbishop of Washington, D.C., to discuss the project.
With confirmation the pope was actually arriving, the result was a series of medals in bronze and silver for $29.95 and $149.95. A three-inch bronze medal and another of the same size of .999 fine silver with a 24-carat gold embellishment are $99.95 and $449.95, respectively.
All are stamped “Made in U.S.A.” Northwest Territorial Mint of Dayton, Nev., manufactured the commemorative.
“We’re the largest privately owned mint in the United States,” said Eric Boyd, a member of the mint’s custom sales force who noted the firm makes the Peabody award for public service in electronic media and both the Bronze Star and Medal of Honor for the United States government.
Don Everhart of West Chester, Chester County, sculptor-engraver for the United States Mint, was also the lead engraver of the papal medal.
In addition to the medals sold in Washington, D.C., pancoins.org, the Pennsylvania Association of Numismatists’ website, and Malone’s Flower Shop, 17 West Pike St., Canonsburg, are carrying the merchandise.
“I debuted it at the (coin) show in Chicago and I had people just staring at the plaster,” Uram said.
Pam Forcht of Gibsonia designed a folder with a circular cut-out for the medal that also features an acetate window depicting Junipero Serra, who will be canonized. Forcht worked with the Archdiocese of Washington D.C. for the text in both English and Spanish. Bethel Park Printing manufactured the bifold and Pittsburgh Binding put together the two sides of the color folder.
ARC Human Services vocational workshop in Meadow Lands has been assembing the bifolds since last week.
“We have, like, 5,000 of them down there,” Uram said.
Serra, a Franciscan friar, was born in Mallorca, Spain, in 1713, the text reads. He began his career as a missionary in Mexico in what is now California. He baptized more than 6,000 people before he died in 1784. Pope John Paul II beatified Serra in 1988. The canonization ceremony will take place during a Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the largest Catholic church in the United States and North America.
Uram, 54, a lifelong member of Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church in Washington, has been invited to attend the canonization mass, which is expected to draw 20,000 people. Serra Catholic High School in McKeesport is named after the soon-to-be saint.
In 2012, Uram was named to the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, a panel of 12 coin and currency experts created to help the Secretary of Treasury choose the themes and designs of U.S. coins and service medals. He remains in that volunteer position through next year. He also has written articles for the American Numismatic Association since 1974.
Pope Francis is scheduled to arrive in the United States Sept. 22. In addition to the canonization ceremony in Washington, D.C., he plans to meet with President Barack Obama and address a joint session of Congress. He then heads to New York City for a multi-denominational service at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center, an address to the United Nations General Assembly and a Mass at Madison Square Garden. The pontiff wraps up his visit with several stops in Philadelphia including meeting inmates at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility and mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul before boarding a flight for Rome.