Indian Peace Medals
1837 Martin Van Buren Indian Peace Medal. Bronze. Second Size. First Reverse. Julian IP-18, Prucha-44. MS-66 BN (NGC).
62.4 mm. 2194.5 grains. A superb example of this medal in bronze, one of the finest we recall having handled and with a desirable provenance. The surfaces are rich chocolate brown with traces of mahogany and light golden olive. Soft violet and blue overtones are noted in the smooth, prooflike fields. The rims are sharp and unmarred. There is only one tiny obverse mark and an extremely minor fingerprint on the reverse. The sole patina break is on the highest knuckle of the clasped hands, while the obverse is pristine in this respect. Exceptional eye appeal. Struck from the original dies. The obverse die has developed two tiny flaws, one just above the back of Van Buren’s shoulder, and the other near the R of his name. The reverse exhibits a trace of spalling around the left index finger point, and on the rim in two places, left of the cuff and over the tomahawk head. Carl Carlson found fewer auction appearances for bronzes of this size than he did silver strikes. Ford had one example but it, like more than half of the few we have seen in the last decade, were from the 1846 reverse die. Considering the scarcer die pair and the overall quality, this might actually be the most desirable specimen.
Ex David W. Dreyfuss, Bowers and Merena, April 1986, lot 5142; Presidential Coin and Antique, October 2000, lot 398; Charles A. Wharton Collection, Stack's Bowers Galleries, August 2013, lot 1047.
Estimate: $600