Indian Peace Medals
1841 John Tyler Indian Peace Medal. Bronze. Third Size. First Reverse. Julian IP-23, Prucha-45. MS-67 BN (NGC).
50.8 mm. 1111.1 grains. Very attractive chocolate and olive brown with nuances of pale blue mottling in the fields. A trivial rim bump is over the J of JOHN, but otherwise we find not a single mark worthy of mention and there are no patina breaks, either. Prooflike, with crisp detail, sharp rims and just about anything one could hope for. Struck from the original dies, the reverse being in the earlier die state with a single chip inside the right rim, near 3:00, as are all specimens we have seen. Minor spalling in the upper reverse field. This is another under-appreciated rarity among the bronze Indian Peace medals. Carl Carlson found just six auction records for this issue in bronze. In our archives going back a dozen years there is only a single appearance of an example of this medal. Likewise, only one example appears in the Heritage archives and there was but a sole example in the extensive John J. Ford, Jr. Collection. Each of these medals is from the first reverse, and each seems to be a different specimen. Judging from the available images, this must be the finest among them. We are aware of one more example, at the ANS, but these are clearly very rare.
Ex Presidential Coin and Antique’s 22nd Token and Medal Mini-Fixed Price List, February 2012, lot 6.
Estimate: $1000