1777 B. Franklin Américain Portrait Medallion. Fur Cap. By Jean-Baptiste Nini. Margolis-18, Greenslet GM-15, Betts-548. Terracotta. Nearly Mint State.

119.5 to 120.5 mm; approximately 7.5 mm at the edge. 199.4 grams. Obverse in lower relief, with four rosettes and a single stop in the legend. Signed and dated once on the truncation, to the left of the small coat of arms, and dated in relief a second time just below. These details are all crisply impressed and formed. A tiny, well-formed rosette is noted on the rim at 12 o'clock, and a nicely impressed fleur de lys is on the reverse, to the lower left of the usual suspension hole, as are all seen. A really outstanding example of this variant in light tan terracotta that is distinctively different than the more often seen deep reddish brown examples. A very handsome piece, essentially unmarred on the obverse and exhibiting no chips or cracks. The reverse has penciled notations, including a circle around the fleur de lys, this being identified as an important feature by someone long ago. Two old descriptive labels are affixed, one partly obscuring the other, and perhaps a clipping from an old auction offering, in French. An exceptionally well-preserved example. After years of study of this series, it was proposed by Margolis that these medallions marked with the fleur de lys were so identified for domestic distribution (in France) to differentiate them from those shipped to North America. Beyond this reverse mark and the small obverse rosette at 12 o'clock, this type is the same as Margolis-17, the most common variant, and the one believed to have been shipped in some quantity, in 1779.

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From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier from our (Stack's) Americana Sale, September 2009, lot 6070.