"1790" (ca. 1850) Manly Medal. Second Obverse. Copper. 49 mm. Musante GW-11, Baker-62B. Specimen. Unc Details--Environmental Damage (PCGS).

Both sides are smooth with the obverse in glossy copper, and the reverse with traces of original autumn-orange to dominant medium brown. The rims are bold, and all design elements are sharp with particularly impressive detail to Washington's portrait. Several swirls of ancient carbon on the obverse explain the PCGS qualifier. These reissued pieces were struck in the 1850s using the original Manly reverse, paired with a different obverse. As presented by Neil Musante, Manly died in 1795 and it was recorded that he had one son residing in London, his only living heir. In early auction catalogs this version of the Manly medal was occasionally referred to as from "English dies" or from "Lincoln's dies," the latter in E.L. Mason's sale of November 1878. London coin dealer W.S. Lincoln was the distributor. It seems likely that the dies were part of Manly's estate and were transferred to his son along with any other remaining personal property. What remains unknown is whether the new obverse die was accomplished in England, or if it was an unused version that traveled across the Atlantic alongside the original reverse. We suspect the former for two reasons. First, had Brooks engraved both obverses, he would have done so within a time span of about five years (from the first offering of the medal, to Manly's death). In such a short time span, it seems unlikely that he would have used a different set of letter punches and, further, that he would have signed his name differently on the truncation of the bust. Secondly, we note that Washington's date of birth is given in European style, with the day first, then month, and year on the second obverse, while it is in the American style on the original. This might be little more than artistic license, but it may also be a clue pointing to English or otherwise European origin. This piece is an earlier die state, the fine crack connecting the first Es of RESIGNED and PRESIDENT not yet developed and the G in GENERAL not connected to the rim.

From the Q. David Bowers Collection. Earlier from our (Stack's) sale of the Minot Collection, May 2008, lot 599.