A Closer Look at an Emperor Norton Treasure Hunt Medallion

June 14, 2022 / John Lumea

The Emperor Norton Treasure Hunts, produced by the San Francisco Chronicle between 1953 and 1962, loom large in modern Nortonian lore.

The central symbol and talisman of these treasure hunts is an elaborate 7” medallion. When winning competitors discovered and dug up a plastic version of this medallion, they were gifted with a keepsake bronze “original” that was struck by Shreve & Co., the legendary jeweler established in San Francisco in 1852.

But, it’s never been clear exactly what these medallions looked like — front and back — until now.

New close-up photographs of one of the original 1953 medallions is on the flip.

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categories / Research, Projects, ARENA
tags / Emperor Norton Treasure Hunt, San Francisco Chronicle, Scott Newhall, medallion, Shreve & Co., Palace of Fine Arts, Tilden Park, Dan Sullivan, 1953

Of Medals and Medallions: Four Artifacts of Mid-20th-Century “Norton Culture”

April 17, 2020 / John Lumea

The period of the 1950s and ‘60s was a high-water mark of the Norton Cultural Complex in San Francisco.

Probably the best-known engine of “Emperor Norton awareness” during this time was the San Francisco Chronicle’s Emperor Norton Treasure Hunt. But, there were many other Norton-related projects, too — and some of them left behind beautiful physical traces.

At least three — perhaps all four — of the Nortonian artifacts discussed here trace their origins, production and promotion to the Chronicle.

And, two of them — a medallion and a medal — are relics of a “Grand Order of the West” that remains very mysterious indeed.

Includes rarely seen photographs.

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categories / Research, Tributes, Original sources, ARENA
tags / Emperor Norton Treasure Hunt, Grand Order of the West, Thanksgiving Day Parade, Playland at the Beach, medallion, medal, note, souvenir, San Francisco Chronicle, Shreve & Co., 1953

The Emperor Norton Trust

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A Closer Look at an Emperor Norton Treasure Hunt Medallion

Of Medals and Medallions: Four Artifacts of Mid-20th-Century “Norton Culture”