Indian Peace Medals
1825 John Quincy Adams Indian Peace Medal. Silver. First Size. Julian IP-11, Prucha-42. Extremely Fine.
75.7 mm. 2411.6 grains. Pierced for suspension as typical, just above the DE of PRESIDENT, as is precisely the case on all other issued silver examples seen. Handsome light pearl gray silver throughout, though the obverse seems to have been exposed in a cabinet for a time, likely that of Captain Andrew Zabriskie. The obverse is gently mottled with pale blue and gold iridescence while the reverse exhibits just a trace of deeper gray and rose near the rims. Only a small scattering of minor nicks is immediately evident, but closer inspection reveals that much of the surface has been extensively tooled to smooth out whatever roughness had developed during the time this medal was worn. Whoever attended to the surfaces in this manner probably did so in the late 19th-century, as the toning visible in the 1909 Zabriskie catalog plate is an unmistakable match to the patterns seen on its surface today. A named Zabriskie sale catalog indicates this medal went next into the Hunter cabinet. In the S.H. Chapman's 1920 Hunter sale, where this medal appeared, there was reprinted the text of a letter dated at Green Bay, October 9, 1899, which apparently referenced a large size John Quincy Adams medal in silver. The association of the letter with this medal seems to have been an error on the part of Chapman. The first piece of evidence is that there was no mention of background information on the medal in the Zabriskie sale, where Hunter bought it. The second piece of evidence that it referred to a different medal is that the ANS Collection includes a medal attributed to Walter C. Wyman and, previously, "the daughter of John Lowe, Green Bay, WI." The letter was a response to an inquiry by Wyman, but the medal referenced therein was still in the hands of the daughter of John Lowe (or Lawe?) as of 1899. It is unclear where the medal went from there, but it seems that Wyman must have purchased it. Since Wyman is the provenance of the ANS specimen, and he was the direct participant in the correspondence, it is highly improbable that he erroneously attached the earlier provenance to this medal. We assume, therefore, that S.H. Chapman made the error, but how he got a copy of the letter in the first place is a mystery. We are including the content of the letter here since S.H. Chapman did the same when this medal was sold by him in 1920. Though we doubt that this letter is in reference to the medal offered in this sale, it is all but impossible to know for sure the exact circumstances. We are confident, however, that the provenance chain given below for this medal is accurate. Mr. Walter C. Wyman, Chicago, Ill. My dear Sir:- Your letter of inquiry I received this morning. The Peace Medal I have is the same as you describe. I can give nothing of its history further than that it was given by an Indian to my Mother, who was the youngest daughter of John Lawe who figured quite prominently in the early history of these parts. The medal seems to be the only one of its kind in this vicinity and although I had set no price on it, one who calls himself a connoisseur says its value is from $50 to $75. No I am not at all anxious to sell it, but if anyone wants it at that price they can have it. Very Respectfully yours, (Signed) Mrs. W.T. Moger 723 Mason St., Green Bay, Wis. P.S. John Lawe-native of York, England; his father was a Captain in the English Army and his mother an English Jewess, a sister of Jacob Franks who came to Green Bay in 1795. In 1812 was Agent of the American Fur Company at Green Bay, during the War was a lieutenant in the Indian Department under the British and he was afterwards made Associate Judge of Brown Co., Wisconsin. He died in 1846, aged 66 years. He married at 20 Theresa Rankin whose father was an Englishman and her mother a Chippewa, who wintered on the Pishtego River and was frequently at Green Bay. As to the large John Quincy Adams medals in general, there were 95 examples struck. There seems to have been a good deal of demand for them, as Lewis Cass, Governor of the Michigan Territory, had personally requested 100 examples for distribution therein. As such, it seems that most of those struck were likely distributed. Carl Carlson identified nine auction records for these medals. Michael Hodder did not venture a guess as to the number of specimens in cataloging four of them in the John Ford sales. The writer's own recent survey of specimens has revealed 20 distinct examples, with eight in institutional collections. This piece arguably has the best provenance of them all, back to the legendary Zabriskie cabinet.
Ex Captain Andrew Zabriskie, Henry Chapman, June 1909, lot 168 (@ $28); W.H. Hunter, S.H. Chapman, December 1920, lot 99; Virgil M. Brand; F.C.C. Boyd; John J. Ford, Jr.; Stack’s sale of the John J. Ford, Jr. sale, Part XVI, October 2006, lot 122.
Estimate: $10000