Indian Peace Medals
1857 James Buchanan Indian Peace Medal. Copper, Bronzed. First Size. Second Reverse. Julian IP-34, var., Prucha-50, var. MS-64 BN (NGC).
75.6 mm. 4073.1 grains. Light mahogany bronze flecked with lighter orange when viewed under magnification. Soft olive brown accents on the high points. A series of small blunt marks in the central reverse are the most notable imperfections, others being very minor. Fine satin finish in the fields. Struck from the original obverse die used on the silver medals, but in a slightly later die state with a small area of spalling in the right obverse field. This reverse die was cut in either late 1862 or more likely early 1863 as a replacement for the original that broke after just eight medals were struck from it for the Lincoln administration. This dates the present medal to 1863 at the earliest. The primary difference between this copy die and the original is that the designer’s name is no longer seen in the exergue of the central medallion. Other differences are noted in the spacing, but it is otherwise a very close copy and well executed. No example from this second reverse was included in the extensive John J. Ford, Jr. Collection.
Ex Stack’s, February 2008, lot 3586.
Estimate: $750