Washingtoniana
Circa 1816 Halliday Medal. Musante GW-57, Baker-70. White Metal. Ornamented rims. Uncirculated Details—Damage (PCGS).
53.9 mm. 852.6 grains. Light pewter gray with soft golden overtones and traces of pale blue in the fields. Sharp, prooflike and unpested, the last condition being very rare for one of these. A series of light scratches in the right obverse field is unavoidable, but perhaps can be overlooked to a degree in light of the impressive provenance of this medal. The rims are boldly ornamented in a zig-zag pattern as was the Baker specimen, this feature being a distinctive framing of this handsome design. In the 1981 Garrett sale where this piece was last sold, the provenance was simply noted as from the Sylvester Crosby Collection. In the June 1883 sale of Crosby’s collection, conducted by John Haseltine, lot 352 was indeed a white metal Halliday. While we have not seen a named catalog for that sale, we assume this was Garrett’s direct source for this piece. Interestingly, though the Garretts had extensive resources and an extensive cabinet of Washington medals, they did not bother to acquire this issue in the more typically seen bronze, apparently finding this piece more than satisfactory as a representative. Indeed, regardless of the noted imperfection, this piece is really very attractive and nice white metal Halliday’s are rarely offered. The appearance of two in this sale is very much an anomaly that should not be too heavily considered. A goodly number of years can easily pass between offerings of nice Halliday medals in this composition, and this piece comes with an immensely desirable provenance.
PCGS# 680712.
From the E Pluribus Unum Collection. Earlier from Sylvester Sage Crosby (probably Haseltine’s sale of June 1883, lot 352); T. Harrison Garrett; our (Bowers and Ruddy's) sale of the Garrett Collection, March 1981, lot 1760.
Estimate: $2500