★ Very Rare 1825 J.Q. Adams Inaugural Medal. Original in Silver ★

1825 John Quincy Adams Inaugural Medal. Julian PR-5, Neuzil-45. Silver. Very Fine, Holed.51.0 mm. 842.5 grains. Boldly holed at 12 o'clock. Attractive medium pewter gray, a bit lighter silver color in the fields and somewhat darker around the devices. The hole is well worn, and the surfaces resemble those found on an awarded Indian Peace medal. This medal was worn, and it was worn for some time. Scattered minute contact marks are seen over most of both sides. Together, they form a texture of an awarded or worn medal, and none of the marks are individually egregious. Though worn and marked up, the rims are not battered and remain pretty well intact. The overall visual appeal is remarkably strong, all things considered. The look of this medal lets the mind race with possibilities: was this a privately issued medal to a Native American? Was this worn by an Adams partisan throughout the Jackson years as a sign of resistance? We will never know, but such historical fantasies are the sort of things that make collector hearts flutter. According to Neil MacNeil, writing in his book, The President's Medal, the Adams inaugural was a private enterprise taken on by Furst alongside his official contract to cut dies for the Indian Peace medals. This interesting account pertaining to the Inaugural is given in the book: After Furst had the die cut, he sent an impression from it to the President and requested an order. He wanted Adams as a patron. 'I have oppen'd a subscription paper, for the purpose to collect subscribers,' he wrote Adams, 'and as soon as I have obtained a sufficient number of subscribers, I shall get the Medallions coined.' Adams did indeed order 10 medals. However, he was not impressed with the work, and apparently not so much with Furst, either. Again, according to MacNeil, Adams wrote in his diary of Furst, "The man is pinchingly poor, both in purse and as an artist." Adams was charged $10 each for the silver medals he ordered, and if his description of Furst as "pinchingly poor...in purse" is accurate, it would stand to reason that Furst would not have produced other silver examples on speculation. The cost was deemed high by Adams, who had direct personal interest in the medal. Presumably others might have felt the same about the price, and would have naturally had less reason to spend for one. It might well be the case, as suggested by the rarity of the issue today, that the 10 struck for Adams were the only ones made in silver. Our auction archives, covering about 20 years of sales records, include a few examples of the John Quincy Adams inaugural, but nearly all are in white metal. Only two specimens in silver appear, those being the "Gem" from the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection that realized $37,375 in 2005 and an Extremely Fine example that brought $9,600 in August 2020. Considering the fact that the only example we've offered since, a PCGS MS-62 example in white metal, brought $10,200 in August 2024, the latter sales price sounds today like a bargain. Michael Hodder commented in the description of the Ford piece that this medal was "undoubtedly, extremely rare in silver," and the fact that we have seen just two since, including this one, suggests he was quite correct. Our sale of the fabulous Garrett Collection included a silver specimen that had a prominent oxidation spot behind Adams' head and still realized nearly $10,000 all the way back in 1981. Other examples are in the collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society and the American Numismatic Society. Clearly, opportunities to acquire this medal in silver are precious few and very far between, regardless of grade.

Estimate: $3500