Stack's Bowers Galleries

November 2020 Auction  –  11 - 14 November 2020

Stack's Bowers Galleries, November 2020 Auction

Live Sessions: US Coins and Banknotes

Part 1: We, 11.11.2020, from 12:00 AM CET
Part 2: We, 11.11.2020, from 6:00 PM CET
Part 3: We, 11.11.2020, from 11:00 PM CET
Part 4: Th, 12.11.2020, from 7:00 PM CET
Part 5: Th, 12.11.2020, from 11:00 PM CET
Part 6: Fr, 13.11.2020, from 12:00 AM CET
Part 7: Fr, 13.11.2020, from 7:00 PM CET
Part 8: Sa, 14.11.2020, from 1:00 AM CET
The auction is closed.

Description

Indian Peace Medals
1850 Millard Fillmore Indian Peace Medal. Silver. First Size. Julian IP-30, Prucha-48. Very Fine.
75.7 mm. 2691.4 grains. Pierced for suspension as typical. Mottled deep silver gray around much of the obverse, with a small patch of lighter gray toward 4:00 and on the reliefs. The reverse is toned similarly, but with lighter areas through the center and lower left. Many scattered marks, fine scratches, rim bumps and small areas of tooling are noted on both sides, the markers of a great deal of use. The suspension hole is well worn, with the bridge across the edge showing a bit of stress and thinning. Remnants of the name "James Gordon" are visible in the obverse field at left and right. As with any awarded Peace medal, the presence of a name is a potential roadmap to a precise history and, ideally, a past owner. We have not been able to positively identify any James Gordon who would be easily tied to a medal like this, but did find one interesting prospect. There was a prominent man by the name of Robert Gordon (d. 1867) who immigrated to Cotton Gin Port, Mississippi from Scotland, and built a large plantation home there in 1836, on land he purchased from a Chickasaw woman in 1832. He is described as having been a successful "Indian Trader and landowner." His son James Gordon is a more prominent historical name. He served in the Confederate Army under J.E.B. Stuart and Nathan Bedford Forrest. Gordon was an early suspected co-conspirator in the Lincoln assassination, but he seems to have been cleared, eventually serving in both the Mississippi legislature and for a short time in the U.S. Senate. Most of the Fillmore interactions with Native peoples centered on western lands ceded by Mexico to the United States, so the potential of a connection to the Gordons of Mississippi is admittedly weak. However, Robert Gordon's background as an Indian Trader is at least intriguing and worthy of mention. It may serve as a starting point for further research into this medal, but it is just as possible that these Gordons are completely unrelated to this medal. The Fillmore medals mark a notable departure from the long tradition of the American Peace medals in the new reverse design adopted for this issue. While the "Peace and Friendship" theme and the clasped hands motif suggested a degree of equality and mutual respect (at least in the art itself), the design adopted here was more clear as to the true perspectives and intents of the awarding entity. Here, a Euro-American at left addresses a Native American at right, each in their own traditional attire. The man on the left points upward toward three connected rings, each encircling one of the words, LABOR, VIRTUE, HONOR. While it is easy for the presenter to suggest this is intended as helpful or encouraging in some manner, it likewise blatantly clarifies that the presenter deemed the "savage" way of life to be devoid of these qualities, quite incorrectly so. It was during the Fillmore administration that the 1851 Indian Appropriations Act was signed, providing funds for the establishment of Reservations for native peoples. While this was promoted as a way to protect native people from the encroaching settlements, it really was a large-scale effort to effectively corral native people into clearly defined and, presumably, controllable areas. The Fillmore medals were issued in two sizes, and the bullion used for their production was from the substantial number of unused Zachary Taylor medals that were returned to the Mint after Taylor's death. According to Prucha, it was expressed that the 162 remaining second-size Taylor medals be used for second-size Fillmore medals, and the remaining bullion was to be used for large-size Fillmore medals. Mint records indicate a total mintage of 281 medals for Fillmore, and if the 162 medium-size plan was adhered to, that would leave 119 large size medals. Our estimations of the bullion left from the Taylor medals (minus five "small medals" still remaining at the end of the Fillmore administration) and that required for the above mintages is very close, within 2%. According to Prucha, there were 25 large-size medals left at the end of the Fillmore administration. If these were indeed Fillmore medals, that would make the net mintage of this size 94 pieces. A similar situation exists for the medium-sized medals, with 40 leftover that would have resulted in a net of 122 issued mediums. There were also five "small medals" which are assumed to be Taylors. While this all lines up fairly well, we have found more large Fillmore medals extant than medium ones, which would be a bit unusual if these mintages and net issuance figures are accurate. However, Carl Carlson found eight auction records for large-size Fillmore medals and specified that this represented five different specimens. He found 12 records for the medium size, and specified "7 or fewer." The present writer has identified 23 different large medals, though one of them is somewhat suspicious as an issued silver original and it has not been directly examined.
Ex Sotheby-Parke-Bernet, October 1975, lot 185; Lucien LaRiviere Collection, Stack’s, January 1996, lot 75; Stack’s, by direct sale, April 1996.
Estimate: $6000

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Bidding

Price realized 9'000 USD
Starting price 1 USD
Estimate 6'000 USD
The auction is closed.
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