1997 also introduced another extremely popular parallel to the card world.
In 1995, Ultra introduced their Gold Medallion parallel to get in on the parallel craze of the likes of Topps Gold, etc... Much like Topps Gold had become, Gold Medallions were inserted 1 per pack. Gold Medallions made a return in 1996, also at one per pack.
And then 1997 rolled around. People were still chasing parallels, but had their sights on truly rare parallels. Finest began that craze in 1993 with the Refractors, and Select Certified took it to the extreme in 1996. Ultra wanted some of that action. They kept the now-classic Gold Medallions one in every pack, but introduced the Platinum Medallions at a rate of 1 in every 100 hobby packs (hobby exclusive). The printrun was announced to be "fewer than 200" for series 1, and "fewer than 150" for series 2.
Eventually, Platinum Medallions went on to be an extremely popular parallel for many years to come. They remain highly collected today.
Here is Larkin's 1997 Ultra Platinum Medallion: