1876 First in War - Magna Est Veritas Medal. By Robert Laubenheimer. Musante GW-861, Baker-292. Silver. Specimen-63 (PCGS).

50.8 mm. 2010.1 grains. Struck on a very thick flan, 7.3 mm at the rims. Attractive medium gray silver with soft uniform mottling across both sides. An apparent restrike of unknown vintage, marked on the edge .999 FINE and No.1. Common sense might dictate a production date of 1976, marking the bicentennial, but this piece seems to have a bit more age than that. Still, the edge marking essentially guarantees a 20th-century striking. No restriking of this issue was known to Musante, nor is it mentioned in the Rulau-Fuld revision of Baker. It is also not noted in John Ford's personal copy of the 1965 Baker revision, which is heavily annotated. All this points to a very small production with little fanfare, and it is likely that silver was the most precious metallic composition struck. This is No. 1 of the series and is probably the best example one could acquire. With originals in silver being extremely rare, this might fairly be considered a "close second" best.

From the E Pluribus Unum Collection.

Estimate: $ 750