Landmarks of America

Above: Typical 'Landmarks of America' aluminum game coin showing
common reverse design. The coins are made of soft aluminum,
26mm in diameter, with a reeded edge.

LANDMARKS OF AMERICA COIN GAME was a promotional game issued by the Sun Oil Company in 1969. This was an instant winner game with collectible game pieces. With each visit to a participating Sunoco gas station, customers received an aluminum game 'coin' (more accurately, 'medallion') depicting one of twenty famous United States landmarks. There was no prize for collecting all twenty coins, but some coins have INSTANT WINNER on the back in which case the player instantly won a prize.

There were four prizes available in the game; cash in the amounts of $1, $5 and $20, and a beautiful 20-piece set of bronze medals with the same designs as the aluminum game coins. The bronze prize set came with a mounting board and a pamphlet describing the twenty landmarks.

The game started about November 11, 1969, and ended February 14, 1970. Over 2,500 Sunoco gas stations participated, but only in the states of Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan and Indiana. A total of 23,000,000 game coins were issued and, of those, 315,000 were INSTANT WINNER coins. That put the odds of winning a prize at 73 to 1. The prizes, and quantity of instant winner coins, are shown in the following table.

The Franklin Mint produced the game coins, prizes, and all the promotional materials. There are twenty different landmark coins, plus four 'instant winner' varieties, for a total of twenty-four different aluminum game coins in the series. This was the last oil company promotional game produced by The Franklin Mint.

Prize	Quantity Issued	Landmark on Instant Winner Coin
$20	5,000	Gateway Arch
$5	10,000	Diamond Head
$1	200,000	Mount Vernon
Bronze Medal Set	100,000	The Statue of Liberty

Above: Scarce INSTANT WINNER 'Landmarks of America' game coin.

Early Version

At the beginning of the game, the game cards that were issued, onto which players stored their game coins, are light blue on the front and have "Series 1" printed on them. These game cards were discontinued early in the game and are seldom seen. The early bronze prize sets included a mounting board that has "Series One" printed on it. These mounting boards have a colorful image of the United States that shows the nation's topography. It appears that The Franklin Mint (and perhaps Sun Oil as well) anticipated that there would be a Series Two. That idea was abondoned early in the game.

Above: Front of game card, early version. This version is seldom seen.

Above: Back of game card, early version.

Above: Bronze 20-Piece prize set, early version. This version is seldom seen.

Above: Early 'Series One' pamphlet printed green/blue.

Common Version

The most common version of the game cards are red on the front and do not say "Series 1." The cards hold all twenty of the regular game coins and have the rules printed on them. The standard bronze prize sets include a mounting board that does not have "Series One" printed on it, and the image of the Unites States is just a plain, orange outline.

Above: Common version of game card front. This card is populated with all twenty aluminum game coins.

Above: Common version of game card back. This card is populated with all twenty aluminum game coins.

Above: The bronze prize sets came in a large white envelope.

Above: Common version of the mounting board supplied with each bronze prize set.

Above: The bronze medals supplied with each prize set came sealed in a plastic bag. The medals were struck with the same dies as the aluminum game coins.

Above: Front and back of the informative pamphlet supplied with each prize set.

Above: Typical registration card included with each prize set. This could be mailed back to The Franklin Mint. I think the only registration that occurred was that you were permanently on their mailing list.

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